


Just Across the Street

by shoelace_and_friends



Category: LazyTown
Genre: AU, Airplanes, Alex the ELF, Fae Robbie Rotten, Family, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Magical single dads AU, Slow Burn, cool whip, rated mostly for the last chapter, sportarobbie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-27
Updated: 2017-03-11
Packaged: 2018-09-27 09:06:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 28,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9995186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shoelace_and_friends/pseuds/shoelace_and_friends
Summary: Robbie and his daughter (Rotten)Ella live alone in the small town of Lazytown. Robbie is the town tailor, who normally kept to himself and to his work, until a VERY energetic new neighbor and his pink daughter moved in across the street. His new neighbor, Alex, who (for whatever reason) insists on being called "Sportacus", has some pretty strange mannerisms. He cartwheels down the street, he can carry hundreds of pounds without breaking a sweat, and he won't stop wearing this one hideous hat all the time! Robbie begins to suspect that there is more to his new neighbor than what initially meets the eye. But little does "Sportacus" know...Robbie has some quirks that are just as shocking!The way that they end up hitting it off is something truly "magical".(...To sum it up, it’s an AU where Robbie and Sportacus are both single dads (Sport with Stephanie and Robbie with Rottenella) who start to bond over their similar situation and the fact that both of them are secretly ~magical~ (Sport being an elf and Robbie a fairy, yadda yadda)basically, magical single dads AU )





	1. The neighbor can LIFT!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey. Just saying off the bat that this is my first fanfic of anything, EVER. Feedback would be appreciated.

It was a Saturday afternoon in the small town of Lazytown, warm and sunny and its main street nearly deserted, the townspeople likely all off to spend a day at the beach or an afternoon in the park. All the townspeople that is, except the town tailor and his eleven-year-old daughter.

 

Robbie favored Saturdays like this one. Quiet, slow Saturdays like this were perfect days to catch up on his work. He wasn’t exactly falling behind; he usually finished projects before their deadlines with ease. However, it was always nicer to take his sweet time on weekends doing things by hand when he could. And so, he sat himself down at the counter and started embroidering a pattern on a skirt, the warm sunlight shining in on him through the shop window being all that he needed.

 

 

“Dad.” A girl with short black pigtails pressed her face and hands against said window, eyes wide and observing the August afternoon outside. “Dad, look outside.”

 

“Ella sweetheart, don’t touch the window like that, you’ll leave smudges.” Robbie didn’t even look up at his daughter as she interrupted the silence, much too focused on the rose pattern he was making. “We’ll have to wipe down the windows again, and if you press your face against it, your nose is going to be stuck like that-“   
  
“ _Dad.”_ She repeated, slightly more exasperated. “Seriously, look out the window, there’s someone there.”   
  
Robbie sighed, looking up a little, but not quite paying full attention nor putting his needle and thread down yet. “It’s not those kids playing kickball again, is it?”   
  
His daughter shook her head. “No…I think it’s a moving truck. Just _look_ , dad. Like, _actually_ look out the window.”

 

“Alright alright, you’ve got my attention.” Robbie set his needle and thread down, his curiosity genuinely piqued. The shop across the street had been vacant for almost two years now. The “sold” signs in the window had sparked interest within him when they appeared four months ago, and Robbie did not think that the shop and its living space upstairs would be moved into so soon. He got up and joined Ella by the window, to get a good first look at their new neighbors.

 

…But there were no new neighbors. Just two movers in worn-out blue jumpsuits that made Robbie’s inner soul wince at the sight of, trying and struggling to lift a large sofa out of their truck. Robbie watched them struggle for a while, sucking on a lollypop and wondering to himself whether the sofa was particularly heavy, or if the movers were just really weak as far as movers go.   
  
“They’ve been trying to lift that for a while…” Ella commented from her spot right next to him. “Do you think they need help?”   
  
Robbie just shrugged. “They should’ve brought a third guy with them. Or bigger biceps.” He snorted. Robbie might not be a strong individual himself and probably was not one to judge, but he didn’t care. He’ll judge anyway.  

 

A couple minutes passed by and the two movers made very little progress with the sofa when suddenly, a car pulled in. Robbie and Ella’s eyes zoomed in. These must be the neighbors.

 

First, a girl wearing an obnoxious amount of pink ran out of the car. A _really_ obnoxious amount of pink. Pink shorts, pink tank top, pink converse, and even pink hair. Robbie sure hoped that she didn’t stick to a monochromatic wardrobe every day. That would be tragic. Fashion is too seasonal for such a crime. But, the second person to come out of the car was an even _worse_ case. It was like he didn’t even _try_. He assumed the man who came out of the car right after the girl to be her father, who was wearing a baby blue t-shirt and darker blue basketball shorts (what is with the monochromaticness here?), and a rather unfitting blue beanie on his head that looked more like an oversized sock. …Robbie was never really a fan of the “jock” look…no matter how fitting the body was for it…or how well it fit the man’s body. It just seemed lazy to him. No thought put in the outfit at all.

 

He watched the horrendously dressed father approach the moving men. Robbie isn’t a master of reading lips, but what he said must’ve been “let me help you”, since he was stepping over to the sofa. What Robbie saw next was enough to make his jaw go slack, lollypop loosely dangling from his mouth.   
  
The mysterious man in blue grabbed the sofa on either side of him, and hauled it up over his head. The sofa that was over _twice his size_ , held over his head as if it were a basketball. The two moving men were just as slack-jawed as Robbie was as they opened the double-doors to the shop and the man carried the sofa inside without breaking a sweat.

 

The madness did not stop there. The man just kept helping and helping, going back and forth between the truck and the shop without even taking a breather, the things he carried becoming progressively bigger and heavier too. First, the sofa, then an entire bed set, followed by a treadmill, an exercise bike, a rack of dumbbell weights, and a couple weight lifting machines. It became apparent to Robbie that this man must be opening a gym, and that he was some sort of Hulk-ish bodybuilder- although, …he didn’t look like the Hulk at all. Actually, the man was kind of on the short side. Smaller than him, even. Robbie glanced at his daughter, who was staring out the window with her eyes filled with absolute wonder.   
  
“Dad! Did you see that? I’ve never seen anyone do that before!”   
  
“Yes sweetie, I saw,” he responded, still trying to recover from what he just witnessed.

 

Ella looked up at her father, with a questioning look that he hardly ever got to see on her face. “Do you think that our new neighbor is a superhero?”

 

Robbie immediately shook his head. “There are no such thing as superheroes, Ella.”   
  
“Well-“ she argued. “If fairies are real, then superheroes could be too! I wanna go say hi to the girl!”

 

Before Robbie could say anything in response, Ella was already out the door- and the man in the terrible blue hat had caught him staring. He waved at Robbie, and Robbie knew that with his daughter out there and the fact that he had been sighted, he had no choice but to go out there and introduce himself too. He sighed, biting off the last bit of his lollypop before exiting the shop. He was more of an introvert, …but this meeting was probably inevitable.

 

“Oh, hello there!”

 

His new neighbor was the first one to speak, waving once again as he approached Robbie. The man had a big, white smile, and his whole facial expression just seemed to scream “energy”. Robbie wasn’t yet sure if this outgoingness was a blessing or a curse.

 

“So, you must be our new neighbor? The owner of the store across the street, right?” The man grinned, looking over Robbie’s shoulder briefly to get a better look at the sign that hung above his shop. “Glannisson Tailor?” Interesting last name,” he noted.   
  
There was something about the way that this man spoke that seemed…rather strange to Robbie. Almost as if the way he spoke reminded him of something. He couldn’t quite put a finger on what or why. “Yes, that’s our shop.” Robbie confirmed, not really sure what else to say. He was so stuck on why the other’s voice made him feel that way. “Róbert Glannisson. But I usually just go by Robbie. And my daughter Ella should be here somewhere…”   
  
The man laughed, suddenly seeming…excited for some reason. “Oh, she must be playing with my Stephanie!” he exclaimed. “…I’m just wondering, are you from Iceland?”

 

Robbie’s face suddenly lit up with realization, along with the light bulb inside of his head. “Why yes, I am actually,” he answered, surprised. “I was wondering why something about your voice sounded so familiar.”   
  
With this fact revealed, the man took the opportunity to switch languages and started speaking in Icelandic to Robbie. It was kind of nice, honestly. He never really got to speak it with anyone here in Lazytown, and for as long as he’s lived in the states…his first language was still the most comfortable for him.

 

“That’s so cool! That’s what I thought!” the man was ecstatic, practically barely able to stay still, looking as if he was about to bounce right out of his skin. “You speak English with an accent that is exactly like mine, so I couldn’t help but think that you might be from Iceland! What part of the country?” he asked eagerly.   
  
“Hafnarfjörður,” answered Robbie. “But, I moved out of Iceland as a child though. I’ve spent more of my life here. Where are _you_ from?”   
  
“Uhh…Reykjavík,” the blue-hatted man answered with a quick nod. “It’s such an amazing coincidence though, having a neighbor across the street who is also from Iceland! It’s a country with so few people living in it…and to meet an Icelander in a small town like Lazytown? Imagine!”   
  
“Yes…it truly was unexpected,” Robbie agreed, his eyes fixed on that frumpy blue hat. He just couldn’t take his eyes off of it. The hideous thing. “I don’t think I got your name.”   
  
“Oh! Sorry about that!” He laughed again. “I must’ve got too excited. I’m Sportacus.”

 

“… _Sportacus_?” Robbie crinkled his nose, unsure if he heard right. What kind of person names their kid _Sportacus_? Surely, that can’t possibly be his real name.   
  
But “Sportacus” didn’t give Robbie any more explanation on it, other than a little nod of confirmation. “Yes. Everyone calls me Sportacus.” The man called Sportacus smirked, catching something from the corner of his eye. “It appears our daughters are already hitting it off.”

 

Robbie turned his head. And indeed, Ella and Stephanie were laughing and playing together, dancing along to Ella’s music box that Ella must’ve brought out from inside. He spaced out for a moment, watching his daughter do ballerina twirls with Stephanie in nearly perfect unison. Robbie couldn’t help it. He and his daughter may communicate with each other just fine, but the Ella he was familiar with was usually much quieter, even kind of shy. The fact that she actually ran outside to meet the new girl across the street was really something.   
  
“They are actually pretty good.”  
  
This “Sportacus” guy snapped Robbie out of his trance, and he nodded in agreement. “My daughter Ella really likes ballet.”   
  
“Oh really? So does Stephanie. Hey, maybe Ella can come by sometime and the two can dance together. You’ve probably figured out by now that we’re running a gym, but it’s also a dance studio.”   
  
“How convenient.” Robbie’s eyes stayed fixed on the hat, studying the decidedly ugly garment thoroughly. “I’ll keep that in mind.”   
  
“Sportacus” smiled. “You two are welcome anytime. I really enjoyed this talk but…I think our movers might’ve given up. STEPHANIE!” he turned his head, calling out for his bubblegum-pink child. “Tell your new friend you’ll see her next time, we need to finish moving in.” He looked back at Robbie. “I’ll see you soon, neighbor.”

 

“Until next time. Oh- and if you ever need a new hat- you know who to come to.” And with that, Robbie took his daughter by the hand, and headed back into the shop.


	2. Hats and Cool Whip

“Hi, Robbie!”   
  
At the sound of the familiar voice and the bell on the door chiming, Robbie looked up and indeed, his new neighbor that went by the name “Sportacus” was standing by the front entrance, waving and looking just as cheerful as he did at their first meeting- with that same blue monstrosity of a hat on top of his head.

 

Robbie didn’t wave back, but instead, pulled out three envelopes that were sitting in his desk drawer, and held them out for the other to take. “Alexander Magnússon?” He glanced up at the other, looking for some sort of response to being called by his real name. Robbie personally, was just really relieved that this guy’s parents didn’t actually name him _Sportacus_. “It seems that we’ve gotten your mail by mistake.”   
  
The man now known to be “Alexander” just blinked in brief confusion for a moment, before smiling in gratitude. “Ah- thank you so much!” He took his mail, and glanced around for a second. “Is your daughter not here?”   
  
Robbie shook his head. “She’s staying over at her mother’s place for a couple days before school starts next week. What brings you to the shop?” he asked. “Are you taking up my offer on a new hat?”   
  
“Ah, no. Stephanie’s over at soccer camp right now and I’m alone at the moment so, I was wondering if you wanted to go get lunch together or something.”   
  
Robbie declined. “That’s a nice offer, but I’m already in the middle of having lunch.”

“You are?” Alex glanced over at where Robbie was sitting and noticed a tub of Cool Whip with a spoon. “That’s hardly a lunch though…” he told him.

 

“It’s enough for me,” Robbie countered. “You know what, why don’t you bring something for yourself from your place and come right back? We can talk.”   
  
***

 

“I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone with your name.” Alex took a bite of his homemade fruit salad, looking over at Robbie, who was eating a spoonful of Cool Whip straight from the tub.

 

“What do you mean?” Robbie asked. “The world is full of Roberts.”

 

“No no,” Alex shook his head. “I meant your patronymic. _Glannisson_ ,” he clarified. “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone with the name “Glanni” before. It’s quite an interesting one,” he told the other.   
  
“You really think so?” Robbie asked, making a bit of a doubtful face. “Truthfully, I’m not very fond of it. I’ve been considering changing it for a while. It’s a difficult process though and I’m not quite sure what to change it to.”

 

“Why would you want to change it? It reminds me of the waterfall. You know, the Glanni waterfall? I used to live right by it.”   
  
Robbie just shook his head, a bit hesitant for a moment. “…You’ve heard of Glanni Rikkisson, right?”   
  
“Glanni Rikkisson?” asked Alex. “You mean…Glanni _Glæpur_? Like, the criminal?”

 

Robbie nodded. _Of course_ Alex has heard of Glanni Glæpur. The entirety of Iceland was probably familiar with the name. There was even a _Wikipedia_ page about what he’d done, for crying out loud. “Yes, Glanni Glæpur. …He’s my father.” That’s right. Glanni Glæpur, the infamous psychopath who poisoned and killed six people is Robbie’s _father._

Robbie looked over at the other man, who understandably seemed a little shocked by the revelation. “To be honest…my whole family isn’t exactly on the right side of society. That’s part of why my mother brought me to the states with her.” He took another spoonful of Cool Whip, quiet for a moment in thought. He hardly ever talked about his family with other people. He had no idea why he allowed himself to reveal his secrets to someone he had met only recently. “…But enough about me. You just said that you lived by the Glanni waterfall. I thought you said the other day that you were from _Reykjavík?_ ”

 

“Oh! Well-“   
  
“Tell me, when do you plan on getting rid of that god-awful hat?”

 

“Wow, you _really_ want me to get a new hat, don’t you?” Alex laughed, however a bit nervously. “I really like this hat. I don’t know why you want me to get rid of-“   
  
“Just take that sorry excuse for a hat off already,” Robbie said with an eye roll. “I already know that you’re an elf.”

 

Alex’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. “You _what_?”

 

Suddenly, Robbie grabbed Alex’s hat, yanking it right off his head and tossing it into a nearby trash bin.   
  
“Hey!” Alex squeaked, his hands immediately coming up to cover his ears, but it was no use. The long and tapered ears were just too big to cover completely, and the secret was out whether he liked it or not. “H-how could you possibly-“   
  
“How did I figure it out?” Robbie interrupted. The elf looked almost horrified. Robbie on the other hand, was amused, a big smirk on his face. “Simple. I saw you carrying all that stuff the other day. There isn’t a single human on Earth who could pull off what you did without feeling even a bit of fatigue. I figured given that and the fact that you always wear a hat that covers your ears that you are probably an elf. Only an _elf_ would possess that kind of strength and stamina,” he explained. “Not to mention, saying that you lived near a waterfall that legend says is a dwelling to elves.” He tutted, shaking his head. “It might go over a human’s head, but to a fairy like me, you aren’t exactly good at hiding it.”   
  
Slowly, Alex uncovered his ears. “…You’re a _what_?” he asked softly. He reached over into the trash bin to retrieve his hat. Robbie slapped his hand away before he could.   
  
“You’re not wearing that again. I’m making you a hat that’s easier on the eyes. It’s a huge shame too; you actually have some pretty nice hair that you’re hiding away. Covering hair and ears that nice with something so… _not_ is something I need to fix.”   
  
“…You’re a _fairy_?” the elf looked at Robbie quizzically, not seeming to believe him, nor notice the hidden compliments. “But you don’t have wings.”

 

“I’m _half_ fairy,” Robbie elaborated, putting down his spoon to grab some needles and string. “Glanni Glæpur isn’t a fairy, but my mother is.” Robbie got started with a little bit of knitting, but then the needles and string started to glow a faint purple and Robbie let go of it all, and by magic, the needles started knitting a hat all on their own, and rather quickly too. He watched the stunned look on the other’s face, but simply picked up his spoon again as if what was happening were nothing special. “I have the magic capability, but lack the wings.”   
  
Alex kept staring at the hat that was making itself right before his eyes, blinking a few times. Then he looked back up at Robbie. He was quiet for a moment, but then, his dazed expression slowly but surely started to change. Now, he had a wide grin, eyes shining brightly up at the fairy. He was hardly able to contain himself. He let out a happy little laugh, hands impulsively slamming down on the table, nearly knocking down his bowl of fruit salad. “THAT’S _FANTASTIC_!” he cried out, laughing some more. “I haven’t met a _single_ magical being since I left the elfish lands back in Iceland! We’re both magic _and_ we both came from the same place, _and_ ended up living across the street from each other? It’s like _fate_!” he laughed triumphantly, having a very hard time staying in his seat.

 

The elf’s behavior was a sharp contrast to Robbie’s, who was considerably less animated, just shaking his head at the scene his new neighbor was making. “Unable to keep still, aren’t you, Sporty? You truly _are_ an elf…”

 

As if to prove Robbie wrong though, Alex calmed down, sighing happily. “…Did you just call me “Sporty”?”

 

That caught Robbie off-guard. “Uhh…well-”

 

“It’s _Sportacus_ ,” corrected Alex, laughing again, although he was just playing with him.

 

“I’m not calling you _Sportacus_. I refuse to call you something like that, it sounds ridiculous,” he defended.

 

“So you’re going to call me _Sporty_ now then?” teased Alex with a grin.   
  
Robbie frowned a little, causing the now levitating knitting needles to fumble a bit. His face flushed a light pink. …He did not mean to give the other his own nickname, especially so soon. “I’ll call you by your _actual name_!” he spat, cheeks getting darker and temper getting shorter.

 

The other’s frustration with him made the culprit chuckle, fondness on his face. “…I really like that name, “Sporty”…” He forked himself a cube of pineapple, daydreaming. “You know…this really _is_ nice, finally getting to 100% completely be myself around someone, not having to hide anything…”   
  
“Uh-huh…” Robbie swallowed, floating needles knitting in time with his heartbeat, faster and faster. He didn’t know _why_ he felt like he was starting to lose himself, but he guessed that it was because the person who was his company was just _too much_ for him to handle. Being with someone so upbeat and enthusiastic felt almost like a workout to him but…was he _really_ tired of the elf?   
  
“It really is _great_ , right, Robbie?” The question snapped Robbie back to reality. “Keeping your identity a secret from _everyone_ can get exhausting sometimes. But we can talk about magical things with each other and actually have someone who understands! Stephanie will be happy to hear this!”   
  
Robbie nodded in agreement, focusing back on his nearly finished Cool Whip. “Yes, and we just found out that Ella has a little fairy magic in her herself. _Just_ a little. It’s nice that she has a friend that she doesn’t have to hide that from too.”

 

Alex grinned. “Yeah.” He held up his paper cup of water, toasting. “Here’s to magical single dads!” He froze though, looking back down at Robbie’s tub of Cool Whip. He frowned a little, feigning concern. “…Are you sure that you don’t want anything else to eat?” he asked. “Just having a tub of Cool Whip for lunch can’t possibly be good for you…”   
  
“I’m fine, Alex,” Robbie reassured before having another big spoonful that actually made the elf _wince_.

 

“But- but that’s so bad for your body…” he argued. “Are you sure you don’t want any of mine?”

 

Robbie sighed. “I’m not just an ordinary fairy,” he explained. “I’m a _sugarplum_ fairy. We are severely hypoglycemic. So we have to eat sugary things constantly throughout the day, or else we become weak.”

 

That was a huge understatement. Going a full day without a lot of sugar actually spelled out big trouble for Robbie. He would hardly be able to even function without sugar. Robbie’s human half made him slightly more tolerant, but any sort of foods other than sweets actually had little nutritional value to sugarplum fairies.

 

Robbie looked at Alex eating his fruit salad. “…Do you want any of mine to put on your fruit salad? Or are you too much of a health nut for it?” It may have come out a bit rudely, but he really didn’t mean it to though. He gave him a soft smile to prove it.

 

“Well…” Alex began, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, I sort of am one, actually. But…it’s more because elves…have really delicate stomachs,” he told him. “Elfish society is pretty secluded from human society, and everything we eat comes directly from nature. We don’t do very much in terms of food preparation. So, …I can only eat things that are very natural and organic. The more processed something is, the less I’m able to stomach it.”   
  
“Oh, ok. So no Cool Whip for you then, huh? Nice to know that our dietary needs _completely_ contradict each other.” Robbie snorted. “But wait. If any food that’s gone through a lot of preparation is considered bad for you, then how would the two of us be able to go out somewhere for lunch in the first place?” he asked. “Wouldn’t most of the stuff make you sick?”   
  
Alex just shrugged. “I probably would’ve had a salad or something.”   
  
“And if they put dressing or any preservation chemicals on it?” challenged Robbie.   
  
Alex shrugged again. “I would risk spending an hour throwing up into a toilet if it meant spending a nice time like this with a newly-made friend.”   
  
Robbie rolled his eyes for the second or third time that day, feeling an unreasonable heat in his cheeks again. “Well, I’m _not_ holding your hair for you if that ever happens,” he told him. The knitting needles stilled, and a finished hat floated gently down into the elf’s lap. “Your hats are done.”   
  
“ _Hats_?”   
  
Robbie snapped his fingers three times. Then one, two, three hats magically appeared in the other’s lap, identical to the original. He then finger gunned towards each hat, and then each one turned a different color.   
  
Alex stared at the hats in his lap, naturally picking the blue one first and placed it onto his head, securely over his ears. “Oh wow,” he said, impressed. “These are amazing. Thank you, Robbie!”   
  
“It’s anything I could do to make you stop wearing that old one you had.” Robbie made a face. “It made me want to _barf_ just looking at it. You don’t owe me anything; just keeping that old thing in the trash where it belongs is payment enough. That thing was an injustice to every hair atop your head.”

 

Alex smiled warmly, acknowledging the offhanded compliment and unique, Robbie-ish affection this time. “Thanks again though, really. They’re beautiful.” His eyes caught sight of a clock on the wall though, and he nearly jumped, cursing his ADHD under his breath. “Crap! I’ve got to pick up Stephanie, _right now_. …I’ll see you some other time, Robbie?”

 

Robbie spaced out for a moment again, but nodded. “Ah, yes. I suppose. Goodbye, Sporty- _Alex!_ Goodbye, _Alex_.”

 

“Alright Robbie. Goodbye!” And with a wave, his strange neighbor was _backflipping_ out the door and across the street.   
  
Once he was gone, Robbie exhaled. “ _Good grief_.”


	3. "Young lady, we need to TALK"

 

There were a handful of things that Robbie expected to happen on his daughter’s first day of school. After having been through six first days of school together with her over the years, he thought that he knew the drill, that he got it all down and knew what to expect. He expected his daughter to be dropped off by the bus in front of the shop at 4:00 in the afternoon, and for her to run out and tell him how her day was when he asked. Was her teacher nice, did she play with anyone at recess, did she have any homework yet, and the like. What Robbie did _not_ expect to happen though, was to be called by the school at 3:40 to come have a word with the principal afterschool because his daughter got into a fight and hurt someone during recess.

 

He cursed under his breath as he got into his car and drove to the elementary school, not really sure what to prepare himself for. Something like this has never happened before; he had been hoping for his daughter to make it all the way to her high school graduation without causing any sort of trouble. She _hurt_ someone? His stomach turned as he parked the car, and headed inside.

 

He headed to the front entrance and after getting directions to the Principal’s office, he started making his way down the hall, just as a mother and her daughter where walking out of the room. The mother was scolding her over something about name-calling; the daughter with three little pony tails on top of her head that looked to be in the same grade as his daughter holding an ice pack to her face. _Oh no_ , he thought. He really hoped that wasn’t Ella’s doing, but he knew deep down that he was probably about to be very disappointed.

 

“Robbie?”

 

If there was anything that he expected less today than this, it was hearing that voice say his name. “Oh hi, Alex.” Robbie rubbed the back of his neck, feeling even more uneasy. _Oh no_. “What are you doing here?”

 

“…I don’t know,” Alex told him, looking a little worried. “I’ve been told on the phone to come here and pick up Stephanie because she needed me. I don’t know why. ...I guess fate brought us here together again, huh?” He didn’t sound nearly as enthusiastic this time around.

 

 _OH NO._ Robbie felt as if the building was getting hotter. He wondered whether or not beads of sweat were rolling town his temple. _This can’t possibly be happening_. He thought to himself. _Please don’t tell me that Ella did something to Stephanie_.

 

“Mr. Glannisson?” The door to the Principal’s office flew right open, and the Principal poked her head out, calling Robbie and Alex to attention. Robbie raised a hand up to identify himself, but the Principal’s eyes wandered on Alex. “And you must be Stephanie’s father. Stephanie is with the guidance councilor two doors down.”   
  
“Ah, thank you, I’ll go see her now.” Alex looked back at Robbie with a sheepish expression. “…I’ll see you later, Robbie.”

 

Robbie gave him an equally sheepish look to match. “Yeah…I’ll see you later.” And with that, they parted ways as Robbie stepped inside the office and the Principal shut the door. His daughter was seated in a chair across from the desk, staring down into her lap. She did not look happy at all.

 

“…Take a seat, Mr. Glannisson, and we’ll talk about what happened.”   
  
Robbie took the only empty seat remaining, right next to his daughter. He stared in his lap for a moment before looking up at the Principal sitting now at her desk, prepared to hear something bad.

 

“…Ella and her classmate Stephanie got into a fight with another classmate of theirs,” the principal began. “Trixie. You might’ve seen her and her mother leaving earlier. From what I’ve gathered, Ella and Stephanie were arguing with her and Trixie said something that started a _physical fight_ between the two of them.”   
  
At first, Robbie felt relief that Ella didn’t do anything bad to Stephanie. But, relief was quickly replaced with concern. He looked at his daughter sitting right next to him. “Are you okay?” Concern was then replaced with anger and a trademark disapproving dad look. “ _Fighting_ , Ella? _Really_? You know better!”

 

“She started it!” Ella argued with him, not liking the way she was being spoken to by her father.

 

The Principal didn’t seem to like the way things were going either. “Ella…why don’t _you_ tell us what happened?” she asked calmly. “Let us hear _your_ side of the story, bit by bit. From the beginning. Go on,” she encouraged.

 

“Well…” Ella tensed up a little less. “Stephanie and I were just playing when Trixie and her friends came along and started making fun of us.”   
  
“Alright…” Robbie took a breath. “ _And then_ what happened?”

 

“She kept saying mean stuff and she even called me “Rottenella” and then everyone else started laughing at us, so I tripped her and then we started to fight,” she said it all in nearly one breath. “She was _really_ mean to me and Stephanie, dad! She kept picking on Stephanie because she’s the new kid and she _always_ picks on people and plays tricks on them all the time!”

 

“But you hurt Trixie _first_ ,” Robbie reminded her, trying to keep calm. “You _just_ said that you tripped her and that’s what started the fighting. Did you hit her first too?”   
  
Ella fidgeted a little, staring back down into her lap. “No…I pulled on her ponytails.”   
  
Robbie sighed exasperatedly. “Ella _Marionette_ -“ he scolded, bringing out the middle name. He looked over at the Principal apologetically. “So…what’s going to happen now?” he asked. “She’s getting punished for this, isn’t she?”

 

“I’ve decided that after hearing from each of the girls privately, Trixie and Ella will be staying inside for recess for the rest of the week,” the Principal said. “And Trixie will be writing apology letters to Ella and to Stephanie. And Ella needs to write one to Trixie.”

 

“You’re doing that _as soon_ as we get home, Ella. …And I’m really sorry about all of this,” Robbie apologized. “Hopefully, this won’t happen again.”   
  
The Principal just nodded, giving them permission to leave. “That will be all. Thank you for your time, Mr. Glannisson.”

 

***

 

“You can argue as much as you want, Ella, but you’re writing that letter.” Robbie drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, powering their way home.   
  
Ella, sitting in the back seat, had her arms crossed. “I shouldn’t _have_ to! She had it coming!”

 

“ _Listen to yourself_. Are you trying to become like your grandfather, huh? A thug? You don’t _fight_ people. You don’t _pull their hair_. What made you think that your actions were justifiable under _any_ circumstance? Go on. Tell me. I’m waiting.”

 

“I told you, dad! She kept picking on us!”

 

“So you cause _bodily harm_?”

 

“You don’t understand! She and her friends wouldn’t leave Stephanie alone!”

 

“Look, I understand that Stephanie is your friend and that you feel the need to stand up for her, but this wasn’t the right way. You should’ve told a teacher about this instead.”

 

This point made Ella go silent for a second. “…I couldn’t.”   
  
Robbie blinked. She didn’t sound mad. She didn’t sound frustrated. Her change in tone however still sounded…distressed. He took another breath. “…Why couldn’t you?” he asked, a bit more gently.   
  
“Because…Stephanie told me that she doesn’t want me to talk about it with other people.”   
  
“About what?”   
  
She hesitated. “…About her mom,” she finally said. “Her mom died of cancer when she was seven. She told me that she would always wear a pink wig for Stephanie because it’s her favorite color. And that’s why she dyes her hair pink. Trixie started picking on her for her hair, but I couldn’t tell the teacher because Stephanie didn’t want me to.”   
  
Robbie was silent, taking in this big revelation. This was the first time that he’s ever heard anything about this. He knew that Alex was a single father, …but he never had any of the details on why. He felt a little bad now honestly, for how he thought of Stephanie’s all-pink look the first time he saw her. This situation was a lot bigger than what Robbie had initially thought of it.   
  
“…I understand why you’re so upset now. That was a very tough situation for you to be in, wasn’t it? Because you wanted to respect Stephanie’s wishes as her friend. Since the color of her hair is such a personal thing to her.”   
  
Ella nodded, looking down at her feet. “Uh-huh…” she said quietly. “She looked like she was about to cry, but Trixie wouldn’t stop it. I was worried about Stephanie; I wanted to make her just _stop_ …”   
  
“I see. …I’ll tell you what. I’ll try to help you figure this out later, alright?”   
  
Ella sighed heavily. “Ok…”

 

“…Because there’s something else I’ve been meaning to talk to you about. I feel like this isn’t the only thing that’s bothering you, am I right?” Robbie asked. “You’ve been a little bit more of a sourpuss at home ever since you got back home from your mother’s a few days ago,” he noted. “Is there a reason for that?”

 

Nothing. There was silence in the car. For a period of time that Robbie found concerning. “…Ella?”

 

Ella breathed in shakily. “…Mom said that s-she can’t have me v-visiting again for a while-“

 

The moment that he heard his daughter’s voice break from emotional exhaustion, Robbie felt a string tug violently on his heart. “Sweetheart...” He pulled over the car to the side of the road and got out, opening the back door on Ella’s side.

 

“I-I think it’s because I s-shrunk to play in the dollhouse and she caught me-“   
  
“Shhh. It’s okay.” He pulled her in close, giving her a much-needed hug. She’s had a long day. They both did. “Hey…you know what though? I know what we can do to cheer you up.“

 

Ella pulled back a little, sniffling and wiping her nose on her sleeve. “You do?”   
  
Robbie nodded, trying to keep a smile on for her. “I _do_ -“

 


	4. Elves don't Fly Airplanes

“So…” Alex began, as he did some lunges. “Basically, what you’re saying is that you felt bad for her, so you went out and impulse-bought a puppy.”  


Robbie looked outside of Alex’s window, at their two daughters who were playing with Sugar-Pie, their new Jack Russell terrier. “…Yeah,” he admitted. It wasn’t exactly his most responsible impulse-buy. “Well, it wasn’t _completely_ at the spur of the moment- she’s been asking about getting one for the past couple months.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess I just felt a little guilty, so I got one for her...”

 

“Why would you feel guilty?”

 

“Never mind, forget about that.” Robbie waved the question off. “Anyway- that’s not the _real_ reason I’m here. They gave us your mail by mistake _again_.”

 

“Oh, did they?” Alex asked, before taking the small pile of envelopes that Robbie was now holding out towards him. “It’s strange how they can make the same mistake twice, isn’t it?” He began shuffling through the envelopes in his hand, his face lighting up when he found one particular green envelope. He held it out about a foot away from his face at first, examining it, as if he couldn’t tell whether or not it was real. “I can’t believe this!” Alex laughed, actually jumping up and down a little from an inability to contain himself. “They almost never write to us!“

 

Robbie wondered who could send Alex something that could make him so excited. Actually, it didn’t seem very difficult to get Alex as excited as he was now. He’s seen Alex get this excited before over hearing a song he liked on the radio, and over a _butterfly landing on his arm_. As commonplace as such high spirits were, Robbie still couldn’t help but wonder. “ _Who_ almost never writes to you?” he asked.

 

“Ah.” The excitable elf calmed down a bit, but still held the envelope close to him as if it were dear, with a warm look on his face. “My _family_ ,” he answered, looking back down at the envelope he was holding. “Good news or bad, I don’t hear from them often, so getting any sort of updates from them always comes as a surprise. My fingers are crossed and I wish on both the points of my ears that this is good news.”

 

Robbie watched the elated elf, but then looked to the envelope. “…My being here isn’t keeping you from reading it, is it?”  
  
Alex immediately shook his head. “No Robbie- _stay and talk_ ,” he reassured him. “While the girls are out playing with the dog.”

 

“But don’t you want to read your letter from your family?”

 

“It can wait. You don’t have to go so soon.”

 

Robbie in truth wasn’t really sure how to respond to such insistence that he stay and talk. He didn’t have much business with humans aside from _actual_ business conducted at the shop, and he was always too engrossed in his work and in his own personal interests for most to even bother with him anyway- not that he usually seemed to mind it, but it left him dumbfounded for a moment at this very instance where someone was actually interested in his company.

 

The first reaction that Robbie could scramble to was a stifled little chuckle. “All right then Sporty- _Alex_ , since you _really_ want me to stay-“ he said this with another laugh, as if he were doing the other man a favor. But really, he was doing _himself_ a favor trying to brush off his overwhelmed feelings. “Question for you.”

 

“Hm? Yes, what is it?”

 

“I’ve heard a thing or two about the elfish lands growing up. They’re described pretty much as utopias, so I was just wondering…what made you leave and get out of Iceland?” He asked him.

 

“What made me leave and get out of Iceland?” Alex repeated the question, as if he were asking himself. He gave it a couple of thoughtful-looking seconds, before chuckling a little to himself. “Simple. Elves don’t fly airplanes.”

 

Robbie blinked in confusion, not understanding what he meant by that. “What do you mean?”

 

“Part of the reason that outsiders see the elfish lands as some perfect utopia is because we try to keep everything really simple there,” Alex explained. “Think of it like the garden of Eden. Traditionally, we are one with nature, treating the rivers and plants as sacred. Things have been changing over time and we are becoming more modern, but there’s sort of this unwritten policy that we keep our world and everyone else’s as separate as we could without compromising convenience. Some of us might commute in and out of our territory to where the humans are for work or to buy things sometimes, but no one really packs up and leaves like I did. They keep our world and the outside world separate because they don’t want to “taint” ours. It’s kind of funny when I think about it, how _we_ are the ones worried about being affected when there are actually more elves in Iceland than there are people.”  
  
Robbie nodded, to show that he was listening. “That explains a lot,” he told him. “About why you wouldn’t get mail often and have a very specific diet. But that doesn’t explain the whole airplane thing you said earlier, or why you left.”

 

“Well- _elves don’t fly airplanes_ ,” Alex said again, laughing a little to himself this time. “But I would always see them flying in the sky when I was growing up. Nobody really told me very much about them, except that they were called airplanes and that they were how humans got place to place. We could see them, but we were hidden by magic and they could never see us. But I loved seeing planes _so much_ in the rare times that they flew overhead that I wanted to learn more about humans because of them.”  
  
Robbie snorted. “That sounds like something straight out of a movie,” he commented, although saying so in jest. He smirked a little. “Alright, so I’m guessing that, in true Sportagoof style, you packed up all your things, and said “Mom, dad! I’m bored of home and want to see the _real_ world. I’m leaving!”

 

Alex looked genuinely surprised. “That’s actually pretty much _exactly_ how it went!” He laughed a laugh deep from his belly, hand over his chest. “Were you there?” he joked. “But yes. I wanted to go to a place _far_ away so, that’s how I came to America. And then I learned about the different sports that humans play and how they exercise! I grew up in a place where everyone is active everyday, so of course, I wanted to spread that fun! So, I took a few jobs here and there, met Crystal, got married, raised enough money to open a gym, and then we adopted Stephanie and eleven years later, Stephanie and I relocated to Lazytown where I met you and the rest is history!” Alex punched the air, jumping higher than a human could, having managed to excite himself thinking about the way that his life panned out.  


All Robbie could really do was just watch him and listen when the elf got like that, and roll his eyes and try to keep his face straight. “You know, I take it back. You’re not so much of an elf as you are a _blue kangaroo_.”

 

That earned Robbie another laugh and happy shake of the head from Alex. “Ah, but I’d much rather be a blue _bird_ though,” he told him.

 

“I don’t know if I like the thought of you with bird wings though. From what I’ve heard of them, angels can act pretty _holier-than-thou_.”

 

“I _really do_ like being in the air though. I remember when I rode the plane to America from Iceland for the first time; I was so happy that I cried. I have a thing for planes, actually. _Actually_ , I have a piloting license. I even have a plane I keep out in the country that I built. Stephanie and I have been working on building a second one right now, actually. Maybe I’ll show you sometime, if you’re interested.”

 

“I could help out with it too, if you ever need the help,” Robbie blurted, without thinking. “Fairy magic could probably come in handy with mechanics and even without the wings, I’ve been taught quite a bit about flying and aviation growing up. I learned all about how to fly.”

 

“Really? They taught you how to fly even though you don’t have wings?” asked Alex puzzled.

 

“Well… _yes_.” Robbie realized too late what he just told the other. He paused, looking down at his shoelaces. “We aren’t _born_ with wings. …They’re supposed to grow sometime before adulthood. Usually, when you are young, before you hit your teens…” he took another pause, thinking back on the lessons of his youth. “After the whole incident with my father, my mother took me out of Iceland to live in the fairy realm with her. …Fairies and humans having relations with each other is kind of a taboo, …so not much was really known about human-fairy children.”  


Alex made a little hum of acknowledgement, letting the other know that he was listening to him. “…So they taught you about flying like they did with everyone else.”

 

“Well…yes and no. Most kids already have their wings before they start school. I’d say about 75% of them. They thought I was perhaps a late bloomer at first. And after I was still late even for a _late_ late bloomer, I was…put through the last resort method.”

 

“The last resort method?” Alex frowned a little, and Robbie could tell that he was starting to feel bad for him.

 

Robbie was starting to make himself feel bad too. _Why am I even talking to him about this?_ He thought to himself. This was something that he never really talked about with _anyone_. But, he didn’t stop. “There’s this technique that is done to fairies that don’t have their wings yet when they should already,” he began. “It doesn’t always work, but sometimes, if a fairy is in grave danger, …such as a fall from very high up, the wings would sprout so the fairy could save themself. I was thrown off cliffs, buildings, the tallest trees…and nothing-“ All that earned Robbie was a fear of heights. “Someone had to save me every time before I hit the ground. Wings are of upmost importance. Fairies are…really strict about wings. If you don’t have them, you need to go. Even fairies that lose their wings in accidents get banished. So once it became clear that I’ll never have them, I got kicked out of the fairy realm…”

 

Alex actually gasped, a hand over his mouth. “Oh Robbie, that’s _terrible_! I’m _really_ sorry that that happened to you. I feel really bad now for having asked about it, and having it be brought up…”

Robbie’s brows furrowed, but he forced the frown off his face with a practiced ease. “You don’t have to feel upset over me,” Robbie told him, shaking his head as if the elf was getting worked up over nothing. “All this stuff happened two decades ago. It’s just a fact of my life now that I am now over and have moved on from. _You’re_ getting more upset over this than I am! Come on now.” He smiled at him meekly.

 

In all ways but physical however, Robbie was hitting himself over the head. _Why do I keep talking about this? I don’t like thinking back on it, and now I’m making him feel bad for me. I’m not looking for any sympathy. What about Sporty- Alex, keeps making me talk about all this stuff? _

 

“Alright, Robbie.” Alex gave him the same sort of meek smile back, but a few seconds later that weak smile grew stronger, and he was almost back to his old self, giving Robbie a friendly, but gentle, knowing his own inhuman strength, pat on the back. “As soon as the plane’s finished, you’ll be the _first_ person I take up there.”

 

Robbie’s smile got a little stronger too. “I’ll be honored.” _Why did I SAY that?_ “It’s starting to get dark out though. I should go. Read that letter from your family. Ella and I have some Jell-O to make back home. Enough to last us a couple weeks.”  
  
“You should put some fruit in it. It’ll make it better.”

 

“…If I did, would it make _you_ feel better?”

 

Alex nodded, and Robbie smirked, halfway out the door. “I _still_ won’t do it.”


	5. Halloween

If you asked Robbie at what time of the year was business the best for him, he would answer that it is easily the months of October and November. Over half of the town came to Robbie for Halloween costumes each year, and the numbers only grew year after year. Only Robbie could design and create a costume from scratch and have it completed in only a matter of a couple days at the most. On top of that, his high-quality costumes came cheap. With Robbie’s magic granting him the ability to work on many projects at once quickly while also being able to duplicate his creations, his supplies rarely ran low and he could easily keep up with the demand, no matter how high. Halloween was also wonderful for him because his customers did all of his advertising _for_ him- news spreading about how quick and inexpensive his services were would carry on throughout the month of October and bring him new customers in November.

 

But success in his business endeavors was only a fraction of the reason why Halloween was a good time of year. He and his daughter were able to let loose a bit when that spooky time of the year came around; they could practice their normal eating habits in front of whoever they liked for the day without being judged or getting weird looks. Halloween was a day to stock up on sweets- the thing that they literally needed to _survive_.

 

The _best_ thing though, was that Robbie got to take his excited daughter around town for trick-or-treating. She adored scary things. She loved seeing everyone dressed up and looking at all the Halloween decorations. She liked going to the local haunted house with him that the town set up every October. She liked dressing up with her father and getting to spend time with him. And when Ella is happy, Robbie is happy. This year in particular was looking to be a good one, with him as a crazy inventor and her as his living wind-up ballerina doll. And since her new friend Stephanie was joining them this year, things should go without a hitch.

 

“Dad, it’s 5:30. We told Stephanie and her dad that we would meet them by now.”

 

“Coming, coming. Did you leave the bowl of candy out the door for the trick-or-treaters to take while we’re out?”

 

“Yeah dad, everything is ready but _you-_ “ Ella answered with a playful sass, sticking her tongue out at her father.

 

“Sorry, sorry. I had to do my hair. You can’t rush perfection, sweetheart.” He made his way to the front door where Ella was standing and waiting for him, and he took a tube of purple lipstick out of his pocket and painted his daughter’s lips as a finishing touch. “ _There_. _Now_ we’re ready to head out.”

 

***

 

When Robbie and Ella crossed the street to the fitness center, one less person answered the door than they expected. After three knocks on the door in succession, Stephanie, dressed as “little pink riding hood,” was the one to greet them- a certain elfish man being notably absent.

 

“Hello Stephanie. Does the costume feel alright?”

 

The girl in all pink nodded slowly. “Yes,” she replied, although with less enthusiasm than Robbie expected her to have on a Halloween night that she was to spend with her best friend. “Thank you for making it for me.”

 

“Oh, it really wasn’t a problem,” Robbie told her, waving it off. “It took me maybe fifteen minutes to make. Are we waiting for your father to come downstairs?”

 

Stephanie shook her head. “No, …dad can’t come this time around. He told me he’s going to stay here and give out candy because he’s…not feeling very well.” Stephanie frowned just a little. “He said he’s sorry about it.”

 

“…Oh. Well, that’s fine. You can still come along with us, Stephanie.”   
  
Ella nodded. “Yeah. We’re gonna go to the haunted house afterwards too. It’ll be fun.”

 

Stephanie just gave a small nod, her voice soft as she stepped out the door to join them. “Thank you…”

 

“Great. Ella, why don’t you lead the way?”

 

“Got it, dad!”

 

They began walking, but Robbie could not help but notice as they left that Alex had left a bowl of candy outside of their door as well. _That’s strange_ , he thought. _I thought Stephanie said that he was going to hand it out_? Was he sick, perhaps? Robbie supposed that Alex not tagging along was understandable. Just eating only a little bit of candy made the elf feel sick and grow faint, so it would make sense that a holiday revolving around something that pretty much poisoned him would not be his cup of tea- or cup of _vitamin water_ , given who Robbie was thinking of. It was a bit of a shame that he didn’t get to see Alex though; he even made him his own Spartan costume to wear, since he was so insistent on everyone calling him _Sportacus_.

 

Robbie and the girls went through a couple streets going door-to-door and picking up candy. Ella of course, was having fun with it, …but Robbie noticed that Stephanie didn’t seem to be enjoying herself as much. She looked upset, perhaps disappointed, even. Her feelings didn’t seem to look like they’ve changed after a couple more houses, and now even Ella seemed to pick up that something was wrong. She seemed to expect Robbie to bring it up though; giving the coat that he was wearing a gentle tug while silently gesturing over at Stephanie when her back was turned. She was mouthing something to him, and Robbie read her lips. _“She looks sad_.” Being the adult supervision here, he supposed that he had to do something about it.

 

“Stephanie…” They stopped walking. “Is everything alright? You’ve been very quiet since we’ve left your house.”

 

Stephanie seemed taken aback by suddenly being addressed, but she sighed, not doing very well in terms of concealing her gloom. “Yeah, I’m alright.”   
  
Robbie just furrowed his brows. “…Are you sure?” he asked. “Ella and I thought that you seemed a little sad.”

 

She didn’t say anything in response.

 

Robbie started to think. “…You can tell Ella and I how you’re feeling. We’ll keep it secret if you want us to.”

 

It was only after the promise of keeping it a secret that Stephanie opened her mouth. “It’s just that…tomorrow, it’s not going to be Halloween anymore…”

 

“Well- yes.” Robbie blinked, not understanding what she meant by that. “It only lasts one day, Stephanie. That’s why you have to enjoy it while it’s still Halloween.”

 

There must have been some hidden meaning behind those words though that Robbie did not understand, because his daughter made one exchange of glances with Stephanie and then she tugged on his coat again.

 

“Dad…can Stephanie sleep over tonight?”

 

The question was unexpected, but the urgency in Ella’s eyes told him that something might be up. “Well…I’ll have to ask her father if it would be alri-“   
  
“I already know that it’ll be alright with dad,” Stephanie suddenly interrupted. She had the exact same look in her eyes that Ella had. But, she realized that she had interrupted him, and looked away, embarrassed. “I mean…he’ll be fine with it, you don’t have to ask him.”

 

“Well…alright…” _That was strange_. He won’t press the matter though. Stephanie can talk to them about anything on her mind at any point of the night.

 

…But, she never did that night.


	6. Día de los Muertos

Halloween night ended up being cut short. Ella made the excuse that she was tired and wanted to just skip the haunted house this year and head straight home. Robbie could tell when Ella lied to him though, but he didn’t say anything on the matter this time because he had a feeling that her request to go home was for the sake of Stephanie.

 

Stephanie…he wondered just what was going on with her. Robbie is no detective, but he had a feeling that Stephanie was trying to avoid going home that night. But was it _really_ any of Robbie’s business? He had half a mind to call Alex that night and ask if it really was all right for her to stay over, but he remembered how Stephanie said he wasn’t feeling well and was afraid of bothering him in case he was in bed with a cold or something.

 

Robbie sent Stephanie off the following morning, but realized too late that he forgot to give Stephanie the mail to take home that they received by mistake once again. He sighed, looking down at the assortment of envelopes that he held in his hands, before pocketing them in his coat and walking out into the cool autumn breeze. Well, he might as well drop off the mail quickly for them. After all, Alex and Stephanie only live just across the street from them.

 

 _Maybe I’m just overthinking the whole thing from last night,_ he thought to himself. _Kids get moody out of the blue sometimes; it’s probably just that._

When Robbie reached the door, he noticed that the sign still said “Open”, even though the hours that were posted said that the fitness center should be closed by now. He peeked into the windows, and saw that it seemed pretty empty inside, but the lights were still on. But were the doors locked? Can he just step inside? He gave the door a try and found that the door was indeed still unlocked and that Alex must’ve forgotten to close up. Either that, or he was still somewhere down here…  
  
“…Alex?” He stepped inside, entering the gym half of the building.  
  
There was a moment of silence, until he heard his familiar voice come from the other end of the building. “I’m over here. In the dance studio.”  
  
“Alright. I’m coming. I have got your mail by mistake again.” He started to walk past all of the exercise equipment, and into the dance studio. He saw Alex sitting down on the floor, with his knees hugged to his chest.

 

“Well- this is weird. Usually when I come in here, you’re doing sit ups or jumping jacks or something,” He commented, deciding that he would just sit himself down right next to the elf. “Sitting still doesn’t really seem like your thing to me.”

 

“Well…I’m not sitting still.”

 

Robbie raised a brow. “Oh?”

 

“I’m actually doing some yoga…”

 

“Yoga. In blue jeans?” Something about Alex seemed… _really off_ today. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wear jeans even once in the two months that I’ve known you.”

 

Alex stared straight ahead, voice almost uncomfortably vacant. “It’s a new trend.”

 

“Uh huh,” said Robbie, not convinced. “What about your yoga mat?”

 

“You don’t always need to use one.” He closed his eyes, sitting crisscross. “Breathe in. Out…” He began a breathing exercise, his breath sounding heavy and loud in the silence surrounding them that was getting more and more oppressing.

 

Robbie watched him perform this unusual ritual, observing the other’s smaller body as he breathed in and out, and the rising and falling of his chest became more and more pronounced and erratic. Robbie sighed. “Look…I know next to nothing about yoga. But for something that’s supposed to be relaxing, you seem really tense,” he commented. “You’re not doing yoga, you’re just acting really weird.”

 

Alex exhaled again. This time, a bit shakily. “Everything’s fine, Robbie,” he tried reassuring him, breathing in sharply through his nose.

 

“Your leg is twitching.”

 

“It’s _fine_ …”

 

Robbie kept watching him. “Okay.” He shrugged. He just sat still, and he _watched_.

 

Alex was for whatever reason, putting up a front, but by all means, he’ll let Alex keep going with it- at least, for however long that Robbie was able to tolerate watching him in such a state. He kept watching Alex breathe in and out, trying hard now to stay still and keep rhythm, as if he were proving himself to Robbie. But, he was fighting a losing battle. His breathing got shallower and less steady, and Robbie watched Alex’s posture tense up even more. He looked so wound up with tension that he couldn’t even keep up his blank face anymore; both his eyes and his mouth were twitching now, along with his legs. Once it got to the point where his face was going red and Alex had resorted to furiously drumming his fingers against his thighs, Robbie decided that it was time for him to give in.

 

“Alex.”

 

A series of shaky breaths.

 

“Alex. I can already tell that something is wrong. You’re not as good at hiding it as you think you are right now.”

 

No verbal response to his name being called. Just shuddering.

 

“The moment you stop acting like an excited puppy with bounds of energy is the moment I can tell something’s a problem, Alex.”

 

He didn’t say anything again and just held back a whine, and Robbie had decided that he’s had enough of this. “ _Sporty_ ,” he snapped his fingers in his face, calling for his attention. “For God’s sake- _Sportacus_ , just _talk_ to me-“

 

“…You know,” he began, finally forcing words out of his quivering body. “S-she was the one who first called me that name, _Sportacus_.”

 

 _Now_ they were getting somewhere. “Who was?”

 

Alex finally looked up at the other, eyes wet and stinging with salt water that he was really fighting to hold back. “ _Crystal_. Today was the day that she passed away. I had one of the dance instructors look after the place today while Stephanie was in school so I could visit her grave…”

 

“Oh…” All the pieces were starting to fall into place now. “I’m really sorry to hear that, Alex…” Robbie’s expression softened. He almost felt a little bad for pestering him into talking now. _Almost_. “…Do you er…want to talk about it?” he asked. “You looked like you were about to explode just a minute ago.”

 

Alex shook his head, biting down on his lip. “It’s been almost five years since it happened, I’m pretty much over it by now…” He nodded, but more to reassure himself than to reassure Robbie, most likely. “I…It’s just that I just- I’ve been thinking about her a little bit more than usual l-lately is all...”  
  
“And that’s completely normal,” Robbie affirmed, trying in his best efforts to comfort him. He didn’t see himself as someone who was very good at comforting people other than his daughter, but he’ll still try because he just really didn’t like seeing Alex like this. It was so different than the Alex that he spoke to nearly every day, and he didn’t like the change. Plus, …he sort of understood what he was feeling just a little bit. Grief was such a _terrible_ thing to feel.

 

Alex swallowed. “I know that she’s gone,” he told him, hugging his knees even closer to his chest. “I know that I’ve said goodbye for the last time five years ago, and I’ve been living the past five years without her just fine knowing that.”  
  
“Just fine?” asked Robbie, searching his pockets for tissues or something. He felt like they’ll need them soon. But no tissues. Just envelopes. _Shit_.  


“Y-yeah,” he nodded, swallowing down a lump in his throat. “I’ve been able to take care of Stephanie all on my own. B-but…”

 

“ _Speak_ ,” Robbie encouraged him.

 

Alex didn’t speak. He went back to the breathing exercises again, in and out, with a violent shudder each time. “I can’t. Stephanie m-might-“  
  
“Shh. What about Stephanie?” Robbie asked.

 

“S-she’s _right upstairs_ , Robbie…” He fidgeted, hands now in his hair.

 

“…Do you want me to get her for you?” Robbie asked, unsure of what he was getting at.  
  
“NO! - No-“ He waved his arms frantically at Robbie as if it were a bad idea, whole body shaking with tension now. “ _NO,_ Robbie _!”_ he pleaded. “I c-can’t let her know!”  
  
Robbie frowned. “I think she already knows, Sporty…”

 

“ _No_ -“ he choked. “I’m- I just- thinking about her mother lately has made me realize that I might lose Stephanie _too_ someday!”

 

It was at that point where Alex had gone over the brink. “I’m scared that I’ll outlive her-“ he sobbed, finally taking his hands to his face and letting out all that he had bottled up.

 

Robbie froze at the beginning of the sudden breakdown, just watching his neighbor cry into his hands. He _hated_ watching people cry. But this time, it felt about a hundred times worse. He felt a spark of empathy in his chest as the other man’s shoulders shook up and down with each sob. He reached over and patted his back, hoping that that was the proper sentiment to give.

 

“Shh. Alex. I get how you feel. I understand.”

 

The elf sniffled, looking up at the fairy with eyes all red and puffy. “You do?” he asked.

 

Robbie nodded, looking around the room for a moment. “Yes. I do. Sometimes…being a magical being can be kind of shitty, can it? It makes any sort of relationship with a human hard.” He spotted what he was looking for- tissues on top of a cabinet. He held out his hand, and by magic, the tissue box started levitating towards them. “…My ex-wife left me because she said she couldn’t handle the whole magic thing anymore. And now that Ella has started using magic, she’s pushing her away too…” Robbie gave him a sad, but understanding smile, grabbing the floating tissue box to hand him a much-needed tissue. “Blow your nose. You’re all snotty.”

 

“…Thanks.” Alex complied, blowing his nose into the tissue loudly before pocketing it. He sniffled, letting out a hiccup. “…I’ve managed to prolong Crystal’s life by a few years through my healing capabilities, …but I can only do so much, you know? Her illness beat my magic. I-I don’t like thinking about how I might have to do the same for Stephanie someday, but whenever this time of year rolls around, I just, _can’t help it_ …I can’t help that elves usually live longer than humans.”

 

“Hey…” Robbie patted his back again. “You _know_ …Ella and I have actually talked about this together once a while back.”

 

“…You did?”  
  
Robbie nodded. “Yeah, about how we can’t really be sure which of us is going to live longer. It’s…pretty painful, thinking about seeing your child die some day. But…you know what Ella told me that totally changed my perspective?”

 

“What?” Alex asked. He had calmed down a bit, and was looking up at his neighbor in curiosity.

 

“She said “I won’t be upset, dad. That just means that I get to see you until the very end. I would like that.” “ He smiled a little bit, the memory of that night playing back in his head as a slow warmth started to fill him. “…I think as long as both of us live long lives, both scenarios have equal pros and cons.”

 

Alex’s red eyes widened, and he grew silent, reduced to an occasional sniffle. “…Do you think that Stephanie might feel the same way?” he finally asked quietly.

 

Robbie shrugged. “I wouldn’t know, she’s _your_ daughter,” he told him. “You should be asking her that question yourself.”

 

“But I-I _can’t_ talk to her about this…”  
  
“And why not?”

 

Alex swallowed. “Because…I’m scared of letting her see me like this,” he confessed. “I don’t want to stress her out over my feelings.”

 

That just made Robbie sigh. “You already are and she already _knows_ , _Sportadoof_ ,” he told him, rolling his eyes.

 

It was Alex’s turn to sigh. “I’m well aware of that, to be honest…”

  
“So then why are you talking to _me_ instead of to her? You know…you’re probably worrying her even more by hiding it than you would be by just telling her what’s wrong. She wasn’t herself at all yesterday either. She’s probably been trying to give you some space for _your_ sake rather than her own.”

 

Alex frowned. “Really? _Shit_ …”

 

“Yeah, so go _fix it_ -“ Robbie stopped, realizing that might’ve been pushy. He smiled a little to correct this. “I’ll leave your mail right next to your imaginary yoga mat. Good luck, Alex. You can do this.”  
  
He took a breath. “… _I can do this_. …Hey, Robbie?”  
  
“Yes?”

 

Alex gave him a tired smile of gratitude, and quickly wrapped his strong arms around him, finding a brief comfort in the other’s warmth- and not seeming to notice that he made the fairy’s heartbeat change. “ _Thank you_ for talking to me.”

 

“...Yeah.” Robbie blinked, trying to process the gesture that just occurred. “But- don’t try hiding away your feelings behind that stupid yoga trick next time! It doesn’t work even a little and just makes you look like an idiot.”

 

For the first time that day, the elf let out a long-due laugh. “ _Noted_.”


	7. One of THOSE Days (December Rain)

It was beginning to look like one of those days- the sitting around, doing nothing kind of day. It was 9:45, Wednesday morning and Ella had hopped on the bus to school hours ago, leaving Robbie alone in the almost complete silence of the shop. He hadn’t had a single customer the entire day, but it didn’t come as a surprise; it had been raining outside ever since he woke up. Due to the rain along with some strong winds, he hadn’t seen a single soul outside the window for the entire morning, let alone anyone who looked interested in what he had to offer.   
  
He sighed. No, …it’s one of _those_ days. Another day of staring out the window at the empty street, and listening to the sounds of rain hitting the roof and the whistle of the wind loud enough to occasionally drown the pitter-patter. Another one of those days that he had nothing to do to pass the time, other than sitting down and reflecting.

…But, somewhere along the line, things spiraled into chaos.

 

It’s impossible to think about nothing. Robbie has tried before. But, there is always a little something that gets noticed- a small detail in the wallpaper, or a crooked picture frame. There’s always something that breaks the inner silence and gets the mind going. This time, it was a raindrop rolling down the window that did it for him.

 

His surroundings set the mood of the day. Cold. Wet. Grey. _What a depressing looking atmosphere_ , thought Robbie as the little cinema in his head started playing movies for him. Days like these made him think of Iceland. Days like these made Robbie remember the countless mornings that he had spent holed-up inside as a kid when the skies were grey and it poured in the exact same way that it was at that very moment.

 

 _Iceland_. Iceland, his _homeland_. His _homeland_ , the days of his youth. His youth- _cold_ , like this December morning.

 

One little thought led to another and somewhere down the line; his own thoughts caused Robbie to break down. What started with an innocent thought about how today’s weather reminded him of his old home back in Iceland, somehow led to Robbie feeling miserable.

 

Iceland was now a distant memory. That part of his life was long gone. The days spent there with his mother and father were nothing but the past now, something to forget about.

 

But still, he couldn’t _help_ it. He couldn’t help but think about his father when he looked out the window. He didn’t try to- and certainly didn’t _want_ to, but images of Glanni Glæpur flashed in his mind, looking down at him with a fake smile, ruffling up his hair, calling him his “boy” before he went out the door into the rainy December morning- only to come back to the front door after leaving him for _days_ with a police officer by his side- _again_. That Glanni Glæpur, his father who kept disappearing and getting into trouble, and then coming back and acting as if he were his best friend- only to _use_ his magical son as an accessory to his crimes while he was too young to realize it. Glanni Glæpur, his father, _who broke laws_ without even a second thought as to how he was affecting his family, who only cared about his family- only cared about _Robbie,_ when it was convenient for him to.

  
He couldn’t help but think about his _mother_ when he thought about his father. Robbie has spent his entire life trying his hardest to be _nothing_ like that man. But _mother_ on the other hand, would say things like “You’re clever, like he was.” “Your voices are starting to sound the same.” “What a handsome boy, you look just like your father.” Robbie didn’t understand. He _never_ understood his mother, whose niceties came in the form of comparing him to someone who he felt ashamed to have relation to. How could she take him out of the country for Robbie’s sake, while _still_ loving that man? He never understood the love of his mother. The mother who fed him and took care of him when he was sick, was the _same_ mother who pushed him off of cliffs and then threw him out of her life the moment she realized that he would never grow wings. Rainy days like these reminded him of his mother’s love. Her love was _cold._

And then…there was his ex-wife. One day, she just _dumped him,_ and it was as if _she_ suddenly stopped caring about him too. His mother. His father. His ex-wife. His childhood friends in Iceland. Everyone in the fairy realm. They _all_ stopped caring at some point. Sometimes, on days like these, …he’d wonder if they _ever_ cared to begin with. He asked himself if anyone even cares about him at all.

 

He sank to the floor, sobbing into his hands, a mess. In the quietness of the shop, it was easy to feel lonely- easy to feel _all alone_.

 

Robbie _knew_ that everything he was thinking wasn’t true. He _knew_ that things were much different now. He had clients that appreciated him. He had a daughter who loved him, and so much so that she would like to have her last living breath with him by her side. There were even two people living _just across the street_ that he knew cared about him. But even with that knowledge, he still had such thoughts once in a while. They always start with a little thing, like a car passing by or a leaf falling off a tree. They could lead to all sorts of different thoughts. It was another one of _those days…_ they just happened sometimes.

 

Finally, looking out the window at the grey scene of the winter rainstorm became too much for him, and Robbie retreated into the back room to let his feelings out where he would have less of a chance of strangers spotting him through the window.

 

***

 

The sound of the bell on the door chiming and a gust of wind blowing into the shop silenced Robbie. …Did he finally have a customer? He placed his hand over his mouth, listening carefully, but not daring to come out of hiding just yet. It wouldn’t be good if the customer could tell that he had just been crying. …What did Alex do to try to calm himself down the other day again?

 

“Breathe in, breathe out…”

 

Robbie froze. _Speaking of_ , that familiar voice was not one that he expected. _Alex_ was here?

 

“…Robbie? Robbie, are you here? ” He called out, followed by a quieter “ _Someone’s in trouble_ …”

 

Robbie listened carefully for the other’s footsteps, a gasp escaping his lips. Alex was getting closer. Alex must’ve heard him, because Robbie heard his footsteps stop.

 

“Ah! Are you in the back? Hold on, I’m coming. _I_ have some mail for you this time. Just- hold on Robbie, and _breathe_ -“

 

Robbie tried to follow his advice, but all that came out was a choked sound, as his eyes started to well up with tears again.   
  
“…Robbie?” Alex was now standing in the doorway to the back room, looking down at the fairy sitting on the floor, with a concerned look on his face. “Robbie, are you okay?”

 

Robbie swallowed, feeling himself lose control of his lower lip. _Alex_ was _here_. The heavy weight of the morning lifted itself off of Robbie’s shoulders and he sprung up, launching himself up at the elf in his state of vulnerability.   
  
“ _Alex_ -“ Robbie sobbed into his shoulder, heaving against him with his arms wrapped around him. He _knew_ how much vulnerability he was showing, but he _didn’t care._ Three days of stormy weather and three nights in a row with little sleep rendered him desperate for an anchor to keep him from drifting into insanity, and Alex presented himself just at the right time.   
  
“Robbie…” he shushed the taller man, rubbing his back and giving it a couple gentle pats. “ _Breathe_. In, out. Take as much time as you need. Let it out, Robbie…”

 

Robbie did just that, taking advantage of the invitation of the other’s open arms for as long as he was allowing it- and he allowed Robbie his shoulder and his open arms for a long time. He let him cry all over him, even though he was making a mess out of him, until his cries were reduced to a couple sniffles here and there, and his own shoulders no longer quaked.

 

“ _There._ …Do you want to talk?” He asked Robbie in a gentle tone that made him nearly think of his voice as “home” for a second. “I have a pair of ears that are _especially_ good for listening.” He offered up a smile to him, pulling away just enough to get a better look at his face.   
  
When he pulled away, Robbie did as well, wiping his eyes with the base of his palm. “…I think that I’m alright now,” he finally said with a sniffle. “I was just thinking some negative stuff, but you just reminded me that I was worrying over nothing.” He laughed tiredly, giving him a tired, but true smile to match. It was true; someone _did_ care about him. “I feel a lot better now. So…” he rubbed the back of his neck, blushing slightly. “…I suppose that I should thank you.”

 

Alex blinked a couple times and got quiet, processing what Robbie just said. When his words finally reached him, he smiled warmly up at him. “It’s nothing, Robbie. …But are you sure that you’re alright now?”   
  
Robbie nodded, wiping off any last semblance of wetness off of his flushed cheeks. “ _Yes_ ,” he said again, just as Sugar-Pie trotted into the room suddenly. “Someone must’ve heard all the excitement and woke up from his nap.”

 

Alex smiled. “ _Perfect_. Then Sugar-Pie can look after you once I leave.” He knelt down, giving the dog a pet on the head. “You’ll do that for me, _right_ , puppy?”

 

Robbie let out another tired laugh at that, rolling his eyes. “Sure, I might’ve made you into a human Kleenex just now, but I’m not a _baby_.” He was smiling down at the dog though. It was nice to know that _someone else_ was looking out for him too.

 

Alex laughed, handing Robbie the envelope he had meant to give him this whole time. “I’ll catch you later, Robbie.” Unable to help but be himself no matter the circumstances, the elf waved goodbye, and then cartwheeled out of the shop and into the rain.

 

Robbie shook his head at the sight. “ _Weirdo_.”

 

He then looked down at the envelope, turning it over and over in his hands. That’s strange- it didn’t have any stamps on it- or even any addresses, for that matter. He ripped open the envelope and unfolded the paper that was inside, beginning to read.

 

“ _Robbie- Thanks to you, I’ve learned that it’s okay to feel sad sometimes. There’s someone always there for you when that happens._

_If you ever need anyone to come talk to or spend time with, I’m always just across the street. Please come in at any time that you feel the need to._

_…Or I could always come over if you need me. I can tell when you do from a mile away. ;-)_  
  
Your friend, 

_“Sporty” “_


	8. Dancing with a Bunny Rabbit

Being frank, Robbie did not get out much. He usually spent most of his time in the shop designing and creating clothes. Some people might call him a workaholic, but Robbie himself never really considered his position as a tailor “work”; he was one of the lucky few that made money off of his passion. Even off business hours, he would spend his free time experimenting and making outfits- he had a _lot_ of projects that he started but never finished however, since his imagination moved faster than both his hands and his magic. Robbie was the type of man who lived in his own world, voluntarily opting to seclude himself from the worlds of others in favor of indulging himself in his hobby.

 

However, there were always exceptions. Yes, sometimes even someone as introverted as Robbie felt lonely. Robbie’s exception came in the form of the elf that lived just across the street. Alexander Magnússon decided one day to just- _let_ himself into Robbie’s life. And for whatever crazy reason, Robbie allowed it. He allowed him into his life _over_ and _over_ again. Ever since that cold December morning where he received a handwritten letter from “Sporty” himself, he had let “Sporty” into his life almost every single day. Whether it was because they got the wrong mail, because their daughters wanted to play together, or any other reason, they always ended up spending time together at _some_ point during the day.

And now, here he was, at an Italian restaurant with the aforementioned elf and their respective daughters, celebrating the six-month anniversary of the opening of Alex’s fitness center. It was more so just an excuse for them all to go out for dinner though, despite the fact that Robbie and Alex can’t really eat much at this restaurant with their very particular diets. Their daughters were able to eat here though and seemed to enjoy this time together, and that’s what _really_ mattered.

 

“Dad, do you want some of my ravioli?”

 

Robbie glanced at his daughter, who was offering up a forkful to him. “Maybe just one, but that’s all I can really have,” he told her before taking the fork and putting the bite into his mouth.  

 

The first thing that he noticed as he was chewing was Alex and Stephanie both staring at him from across the table with wide eyes. He already knew what they were probably thinking, and he snorted. “What?” he asked. His eyes fell in particular on Alex, who looked rather confused. “Do you want to try some too?” he asked.

 

“Don’t give dad any,” Stephanie interjected, shooting the offer down immediately on her father’s behalf. “He’ll probably get sick if he eats it.”

 

“Oh. Uh, yeah, I can’t eat that kind of thing.” Alex confirmed the fact, however still eying the fork in Robbie’s hand quizzically, before looking around to make sure nobody could hear. The restaurant was pretty loud, so he went ahead with his question. “I thought you could only eat sweet stuff?”

 

“Oh no.” Robbie shook his head. “I can actually eat whatever, but anything else besides the sugary stuff would sort of just be empty calories. Sweets have enough calories already,” he explained. “And my body naturally produces vitamins and such already _for_ me.”

 

“That’s pretty fascinating,” Alex laughed a little. “The fact that your body could do that almost sounds fake. I never heard of anything alive that lives almost exclusively off of sugar.”

 

Robbie shrugged. “Not even _we_ are sure why we are like that,” he told him. “Ella’s a bit different though. Her blood’s mostly human, so she could eat more normally.”

 

“And I’m _glad_ ,” Ella suddenly spoke up. “If I came to school and my lunchbox was just filled with candy and nothing else, people would think I’m weird.”

 

“We _are_ weird, sweetie,” Robbie reminded her.

 

“There isn’t anything wrong with being a little weird.” Alex smiled, tapping on one of his ears that were hidden under his hat.

 

“That couldn’t be truer, coming from a guy who backflips down the street rather than just walking like everyone else,” Robbie teased, a look of amusement crossing his face when he spotted Stephanie cover her mouth in an attempt to try to hide a giggle.

 

“I’ll do my thing, you do yours,” Alex retaliated, grinning before taking a sip of water.

 

“You might as well take your hat off, you’ll get just as much attention either way. You know Sporty, you’re like a rabbit,” Robbie began, studying the other man’s face. “Big ears, jumping all over the place, and little whiskers right under your nose.”

 

Alex nearly choked on his water at the other’s realization, swallowing quickly before forcing out a noise that sounded like a cross between a cough and a chuckle. “Oh wow, I _am_!” He shook his head, laughing to himself. “…But am I a _cute_ rabbit?”

 

“Not after that noise you just made, no-“ teased Robbie, rolling his eyes a bit. “You alright there?”

 

“I’m fine. That was just _really funny_. No one’s called me that in my life. It’s cute.”

 

“I didn’t _call_ you one.” Robbie crinkled his nose. “I just said that in some ways, you are _like_ one.”

 

“Ooh! He eats a lot of fruits and veggies too!” Stephanie added.

 

“Well, there we go.” Robbie threw his hands in the air. “Maybe you’re not an elf after all. Perhaps you’re the Easter Bunny.”

 

“Oh, so I’m an _Easter_ bunny now?“ Alex looked amused. “It’s a bit of a long title for me, but I’ll take it.”

 

“A long title?” Robbie raised a brow. “You wanted me to call you _Sportacus_ the day I met you.”

 

“I did, …but “Sporty” is _really_ starting to grow on me though.”

 

Robbie scowled, but Alex just laughed as he saw the fairy shake his head at him and his cheeks turn pink. However, when his eyes fell on his frowning lips, he noticed a little shine to them that he never really appreciated before now. “Huh,” he let out, continuing to stare at his face. “I never noticed that you wore makeup before, Robbie.”

 

Robbie blinked at the sudden comment, and he averted his gaze once he noticed that Alex’s own eyes were now focused on his mascara-coated lashes. “Well… _yeah_ ,” he told him. “You didn’t notice until now? I have been wearing it for a while now.”

 

“Even _I_ noticed, dad.” Stephanie shook her head at her father.

 

“Dad has _always_ worn makeup,” piped Ella. “He even helps me put it on myself sometimes.”

 

At this news, the elf rubbed the back of his neck, becoming a bit bashful. “…Oh. Well, …I guess I never realized.”

 

“You’re really bad at realizing things, dad.”

 

The comment from Stephanie made the rest of the table crack up a bit. “I know that I can be sometimes, Stephanie.” Alex laughed his embarrassment off, looking back at Robbie. “Purple eye shadow, huh?”

 

“Yes, but I usually go pretty light if I put anything on. Usually just a bit of eye shadow and some lip-gloss. I just don’t see why makeup is something that should be limited to just women,” he explained. “It’s like clothes. Both are a part of fashion and fashion is self-expression. I think a little lip-gloss and eye shadow could do wonders on a man too.”

 

“You really think so?”

 

Robbie nodded. “Yeah. I get some people that stare because I’m a man wearing makeup, but it’s _whatever_.”

 

“I see…” Alex fell silent.  Robbie proceeded to try to read his expression in an attempt to gauge some sort of reaction. The very few times that he had explained his wearing makeup to others usually resulted in the other person being either weirded out, or disgusted- especially other men. His silence actually unnerved Robbie for a moment, and he actually wondered if Alex thought he was strange now.

 

“...What would you think if I put on blue eye shadow?” he finally asked, out of sheer curiosity.

 

Oh, _thank God_. He should’ve known. Alex is too nice to give him a hard time. “Oh God, _no_ -“ Robbie firmly shot the idea down. “First of all, those cool colors wouldn’t really work on your face. Personally, I think you’re more of a _peach_ ,” he said, giving him some sage makeup advice, in his opinion. “Secondly, you’re _way_ too blue already. There’s _other_ colors in the rainbow, you know that _,_ right?”

 

“I’m _too_ blue?” the other man asked, looking lost.

 

“For heaven’s sake, _yes!_ ” the tailor exclaimed. “I feel like making you four different hats the other day was pointless. So far, I’ve only seen you wear the blue one that I made you.”

 

“I like that one the most,” Alex said, defending himself.

 

“You can’t wear the same hat _every single day-_ “ Robbie sighed, rubbing his temple and ignoring his daughter who was smirking at his frustration with the elf. “Surely, you have more things to wear than just blue exercise clothing?”

 

Alex flushed. “I don’t…” he said sheepishly, giving the other man a shy smile.

 

“… _Guð minn góður_ ,” Robbie muttered to himself in their native tongue.

 

“…I think dad does have some other clothes,” Stephanie corrected. “He just chooses to never wear them.”

 

Alex just looked over at his daughter as if he had been betrayed.

 

“Well well then-“ Robbie fixed his eyes on his new victim. “And why _don’t_ you wear anything other than your blue clothes?” he asked him.   


“Well…” Alex looked away, feeling the other’s eyes on him. “…I think that I only look good in blue,” he confessed.

  
Robbie let out a short laugh of disbelief, doing a double take. “You _what_?” He asked. “That’s not real,” he told him. “There’s _no such_ thing as a person who only looks good dressed in one color. Are you kidding me? That doesn’t exist.” He shook his head. “Are you kidding?” he asked again.

 

Alex didn’t give him a verbal response; instead he just stared down into his lap, his cheeks turning a lovely shade of red in contrast to the blue that he wore.   
  
Robbie calmed down after a moment, his laughter subsiding. He’s given him enough of a hard time, he’s decided. “…I’ll help you,” he finally told him. “The truth is that you’re confused about what goes with what, aren’t you?”

 

Alex nodded. “…Yes,” he said softly, being honest with him. “I stick with athletic wear since I’m usually spending most of my time in the gym anyway. I’m not really good at figuring out what else to wear,” he confessed.

 

“I think you could look good in almost anything, as long as you know how to piece an outfit together. …You know what? We’ll start now.”

 

Just like he did the first time, Robbie pointed a finger gun at the hat on top of the elf’s head, and quite literally like magic, the hat turned from blue, to a rich brown color. Both of the girls looked over in awe and he even heard a “wow” come from Stephanie. He looked at the hat, satisfied with the transformation, before pulling out a compact mirror and handing it to Alex. “Here- you don’t look so bad. Actually, I think that color suits you even more than the blue does. Instead of just blending in with what you’re wearing, the brown makes your blue eyes pop.”

 

Although he’s seen it happen before, looking down at the refection in the mirror wearing a now brown hat put an unmistakable look of surprise on Alex’s face. “You’re daring, doing that in front of all these people,” Alex whispered in awe.

 

“I don’t care, _anything_ to get you to mix things up a little, Sporty,” Robbie replied.

 

Ella then got a bright idea. “Dad…you should put bunny ears on his hat.”

 

Both of the girls giggled, and Robbie smirked at the idea and being intrigued by this idea, he indulged the two girls, and with a flick of his wrist, he added a pair of knit bunny ears to Alex’s hat. Alex gasped at the sight in the mirror, before bursting out in laughter.

 

“That’s _great_!” He exclaimed, nearly jumping out of his seat. “Oh Robbie, you’re really something.”

 

“Yeah yeah, just sit still before you make a scene, _bunny_ ,” Robbie waved his comment off, however hiding how pleased he was by his reaction.

 

“I’ll think of you when I wear this around town.”   
  
“You mean when you _run_ around town nonstop like the Energizer bunny, like you always do.”

 

“Regardless of whether I’m the Easter bunny or the Energizer bunny, I’ll think of you, Robbie.”

 

Robbie just rolled his eyes. “Whatever, _Sportabunny_. Will you manage with the hat now, even though it’s not blue anymore?”

 

Alex nodded in confidence, head up high. “Of course.”

 

“Good, because I’m not changing it back for you. You’re quitting wearing only blue, starting today. I’m doing your body a favor, making you wear some more color for a change rather than living the rest of your life as a blueberry. It’s the brown hat, or no hat at all.”

 

Alex grinned. “You’d _like_ me without my hat on, wouldn’t you?” he asked playfully. “You’ve admitted to liking my hair from day one.”

 

Robbie let out a “pfft” sound, shaking his head. However, he was blushing slightly. “Don’t flatter yourself, it was just a lot better when it wasn’t covered by that old hat you used to have.”

 

Ella and Stephanie meanwhile just watched this exchange, quiet until Ella finally made a face. “…I think our dads are _flirting_ ,” she whispered at Stephanie.

 

Stephanie giggled. “ _Ew_!”

 

It was only at the girls whispering that the two men finally stopped their playful banter. “What’s so funny, you two?” Alex asked, smiling.

 

“Oh, nothing,” Stephanie answered innocently, however the two girls both had knowing looks on their faces.

 

“Those faces sure don’t look like “nothing”,” Robbie pointed out. “But, I think it’s about time that we pay for our meals and leave.”

 

Alex nodded in agreement. “Should I drive us back?”

 

“No,” Robbie shook his head. “You’re even a bunny behind the wheel. You’re a serial speeder. Give me your keys, _I’m_ driving.”

 

***

 

The sun had already set by the time that the four of them arrived back at the fitness center, and the soft, but somewhat chilly breeze of February bit at their cheeks as they stepped inside the building.

 

“The weather was really nice for February earlier today, but it’s kind of nippy out now that the sun’s down,” said Alex as he peeled off his jacket. “I can make us all some tea before you go. I can make yours with sugar and honey.”

 

Robbie shrugged. “If you’d like to, go ahead,” he told him. “The girls already ran off into the dance studio.”

 

“No surprise there.” The elf hung up his jacket, and then unlocked the door that led to the upstairs where their living space was. “I’ll go make that tea.”

 

***

 

When Alex returned with the tea, Robbie was with the girls, who minutes ago had switched on some ballet music and were now doing pirouettes together as Robbie watched. Seeing the scene, Alex set the trey of tea he was holding down for now and began applauding, catching the attention of the girls.

 

“That was _beautiful!”_ he said, praising them. “You two get better and better every day. We have a couple ballerinas on our hands, Robbie.”

 

“Yes, we do.” The man nodded in agreement, smiling softly when he saw the girls beam at the compliments.

 

“…But there’s not just ballet though-“ Stephanie added, a smug look on her face as she ran towards the stereo as fast as her pink shoes would take her, and she switched to a more upbeat song. The girls dancing transitioned like clockwork, and they went from pirouettes to jumps and high kicks like nothing at all.

 

Alex laughed. “Looks like fun. Let me join you two!”

 

It was only a matter of time. Robbie watched the very predictable scene unfold before him- the two eleven-year-olds spinning, jumping, and clapping their hands while the very overenthusiastic elf did flips and handstands in the background. This was the kind of thing that he preferred to sit around and just watch.

 

“Robbie!” Alex smiled brightly, waving him over. “Come dance with us!”   


Well, _so much for that_. “No thanks.” Robbie held up his hands, shaking his head. “I _don’t_ dance,” he told him, turning him down.

 

Alex frowned a little. “You don’t? Come on.” He beckoned for him again. “It’s _easy_.”

 

“Whatever it was that you were doing looked like the _exact_ opposite of easy,” Robbie argued.

 

“Well, then we’ll try something else,” said Alex as he flipped the stereo to a different song.

 

The girls stepped aside and gave him some space. Alex struck a pose. Suddenly, the music started playing and Alex began to movie his feet quickly and his hips rhythmically, and to Robbie’s near disbelief, the elf started to perform a flawless samba routine before everyone’s eyes. Robbie couldn’t stop looking, but he _knew_ that that dance was no simple feat.

 

When the song ended, Alex froze into another pose, and amazingly, wasn’t even a little bit out of breath. “So?” he asked. “How about this one?”

 

“That one looked even _harder_ ,” Robbie replied, shaking his head. “None of us have the inhuman elfish stamina that you have,” he reminded him. “Besides, I’ve told you already, I don’t dance.”

 

“But what about a slow dance?” Asked Alex, not ready to give up.

 

The girls seemed to like the idea of this, and they both nodded. “Slow dancing is really easy and most people can do it,” Stephanie added, before grabbing Ella by the arm and taking the lead as they danced to some imaginary music for a moment before bursting into a fit of laughter.

 

Alex watched them, smiling warmly at them, before looking back at Robbie with his finger on the “play” button. Seconds later, the deep, gentle sound of a cello filled the dance studio, and the elf offered his hand to the fairy, looking up at the taller man with somewhat hopeful eyes. “Just _try_?” he asked.

 

Robbie looked down at his hand, and then back up at his eyes, sighing. “ _Fine_ ,” he gave in, taking the man’s hand, and then wrapping his other arm around his waist. “…Like this?” he asked, feeling a bit awkward. “…I assume that I’m leading because I’m taller, right?”

 

Alex, who seemed to be more comfortable with this than the other was, nodded, and then began to step to the music with him. “Just do whatever is comfortable and feels right,” he told him. “You already seem to be learning pretty quickly.”

 

“Oh-“ Robbie felt an unexpected rush of warmth to his face, and looked down at their feet. “Well, I’m not _meaning_ to learn quickly.”

 

That made Alex laugh. “Well, you already are getting the hang of it.”

 

“Well, _damn_.”

 

He laughed harder. “What is so bad about dancing? Why did you act so reluctant?”

 

Robbie swallowed, feeling his heart beat faster…as the beat of the music did too. He didn’t know how to answer that. He didn’t really have a good immediate reason. “I _don’t_ dance.” Was all that he managed to come up with as the beat got progressively faster and faster, with the edition of a trumpet and a sax, and then soon, a full brass ensemble with the genre making a complete transition. This was no waltz anymore, but _swing_.

 

Yet somehow, Robbie still managed to keep hold of his hand, and his body twisted and moved in just the right way.

 

“See? You’re keeping up with me.” Alex was all smiles, not skipping a beat as he hopped, spun, and Robbie managed to catch him in his arms time and time again. “You’re a _natural_ at dancing, Robbie!”

 

“…I…wouldn’t say that-“ Robbie tried to argue, but with the way his heart was beating, he hadn’t the energy to say more. Dancing with the other really did get the blood flowing and the heart pumping.

 

In the midst of all of the dancing, he nearly forgot that the girls were dancing along to the music as well. “Dad actually dances around in the kitchen all the time.”

 

“…So you _do_ dance!” Robbie was horrified for a second that his own daughter would rat him out in such a way, but Alex just kept laughing, and he held him close before _lifting Robbie in the air_.

 

That surprised him enough to make a little yelp escape from his lips, whatever color left in his body rushing up to his cheeks. “Sporty- _Alex!_ ”

 

He spun him around like that and just as the song ended, he dipped the fairy, causing the hat to fall off of the elf’s head and onto the floor. He looked down at Robbie, who looked absolutely stunned for a moment, but then he started laughing, his laughs bouncing off the walls all over the room.   
  
Robbie was breathless, panting in the other’s arms and trying to process everything that just happened. That was when Alex started laughing. Robbie could feel his bangs just barely falling against his face and tickling it as he squeezed Robbie closer and shook with laughter.

 

Robbie could feel tension in his jaw. His lips quivered for a moment, but no matter how much he fought it, he could no longer hold back.

 

He was laughing too.


	9. a Different Kind of Stupid

“Hey, Alex? Can you hand me that pack of bolts that we bought at the store earlier?”

 

“The pack of bolts? You mean the bigger bolts, or the little ones?”

 

“The _BIG_ ones.”

 

Robbie, Alex, and the girls had all been blessed. Winter had been very gentle to them once the New Year rolled in. The season was kind enough to grant them weather warmer than usual in February, and by mid-March, conditions were actually nice enough to spend a lot of free time outside- free time that the two men and their daughters spent constructing an airplane. Not a model plane, but an _actual_ , _flying_ airplane that someone could get inside of and soar through the sky in. It was mid-April now, and a month had passed, and Robbie _still_ could not believe that he was actually working on this. Whenever he picked up a wrench, or climbed into the cockpit to tamper with some wires, it all just felt so _surreal_.

 

“The _BIG_ bolts?”

 

Robbie rolled his eyes. “ _Yes_ Alex, like I’ve _just_ said, I need the _big_ bolts.”

 

“ _BIG_ bolts!” Alex repeated, clapping his hands together as he glanced around the garage in the middle of nowhere that they had been working in, trying to figure out where he put those bolts that they had bought. “Aha!” He cried out triumphantly, spotting the plastic bag with their shopping in it on the other side of the garage. He got on his mark, got set, and…  
  
“ _Hold it-_ “ Robbie stopped him. “ _Freeze_. …Alex, you weren’t just about to _flip_ over to where the bolts were, were you?”   
  
“Uh…no?” Alex gave Robbie a nervous smile, neither looking nor sounding convincing to the fairy.

 

“If you’re going to make stunts out of a simple little task, then forget it, _I’ll_ get the bolts _myself_.” He shot him a glare for a second, but it faded into a soft smile before he reached his arm out, beckoning at the pack of bolts to come to him and it did just that, floating through thin air before landing gently at Robbie’s side.

 

Alex meanwhile, just shook his head at Robbie. “It almost feels like you’re _cheating_ ,” he began. “You use your magic instead of your hands a lot when you make things.”

 

“Well, we’re getting this thing built a lot faster with a little magic though, aren’t we?” Robbie pointed out, wrench in hand…and a bunch of other tools levitating and working all around him on different plane parts.

 

“Well… _yeah_ …” Alex hesitated, seeing his point.

 

“See? It’s not really _cheating_ , it’s just me utilizing my own resources.”

 

“I know,” Alex said with a laugh. “I’m just giving you a hard time, Robbie. But…I’m kind of impressed though, …how do you do all those things with your magic at once?” Alex asked as he pumped some more air into the landing gear.

 

“A _lot_ of practice and concentration,” Robbie answered simply, wiping some grease off of his forehead. “Years of studying magic and working towards earning an engineering degree.”

 

“You have an engineering degree?” Alex asked, surprised.

 

Robbie nodded. “Yeah, I do. I ended up not making much use of it though. Making clothing felt more like my calling, at the end of the day.”

 

At that, the elf smiled a little to himself, shaking his head. “ _God_ Robbie, you must be _really_ smart. I swear. I’ve seen you make all sorts of things, and you do it like it’s nothing too. …You know, you make me feel kind of stupid sometimes.”

 

Robbie raised a brow. “ _Stupid?”_ He asked, frowning a little.

 

“Yeah. You’re _really_ talented,” he told him. However, Alex didn’t really look jealous. He _was_ looking directly at Robbie though; in a way that Robbie didn’t quite know how to put a finger on.

 

Although Robbie couldn’t put words to that look, it made a warm feeling crawl over his skin, and he quickly looked away from Alex to make it stop. “You’re not stupid, Alex. You already had the plane mostly completed before I started helping you.”

 

“Well…I _know_ I’m not _actually_ stupid-“

 

“Then don’t call yourself stupid.”

 

Alex shook his head and smiled at himself again. Robbie’s brows furrowed. Why did he keep doing that?

 

“…But sometimes, I just _feel_ stupid when I’m around you,” he said a second time, that smile growing bigger.

 

Robbie just snorted, turning his head away as he felt his chest thump. “You’re really an _odd_ one, Sportadork,” he told him. “You keep calling yourself that like you’re happy about the fact. Who _likes_ being stupid?”

 

At the other’s inquiry, Alex blinked, thinking about his question for a moment before he once again, smiled and shook his head, laughing at him.

 

Robbie _really_ didn’t get what the other was getting at. Why was he being laughed at? Frustrated that he didn’t understand what he was laughing about, Robbie huffed. “What’s so funny?” he demanded.

 

“Ah, ah, it’s nothing.” Alex wiped a tear of laughter from his eye. “It’s just that you’re thinking of the wrong kind of stupid, Robbie.”

 

“What? The _wrong_ kind of stupid?” Robbie’s expressive brows knit together again, still not understanding what he meant. “Since when was there more than one kind of “stupid”?”

 

“Just- never mind it, Robbie.” Alex sighed, although blissfully, which _really_ didn’t help with Robbie’s confusion over the whole “stupid” ordeal.

 

“…I _can’t_ ,” Robbie told him stubbornly. “Now _I’m_ feeling stupid because there’s obviously something that I’m not getting here.”

 

“Robbie,” he chuckled. “I meant that I’m _stunned_.”

 

Robbie’s frustrated expression softened, changing into a look that could be described as “stupid” in and of itself. “You-you could’ve just said that from the very beginning, you know!” he stammered, flushing and angry with himself for the fact that he was flushing. “ _God_ , Alex, I was actually afraid that I was making you feel like an idiot somehow for a second!”

 

“ _Were_ you?” The elf crossed his arms over his chest, amused.

 

“Yeah!” Robbie threw a dirty rag at Alex’s face as a sort of punishment, but his reflexes were too quick and he caught it.

 

Alex looked down at the rag in his hands, and he once again, had that expression on him that Robbie couldn’t put a finger on. “So…you get what I meant before now, right?”

 

Robbie rolled his eyes and sighed. “ _Yeah_ ,” he told him, hiding the lower half of his face from him with his hand. But still, he couldn’t hide the blush in his ears. “I get it now. But are you done with the cutting pliers yet?” he asked him, trying to change the subject. “There’s some wiring in the control panels that needs to be done-up.”

 

“Yeah, let me get that for you.” But this time, before Robbie could stop him, Alex was already backflipping and doing handstands over to where he left the pliers.

 

“Sporty, be _careful._ There’s some oil split on the ground in some places. You’ll hurt yourself.”

 

“I got the pliers!” he held up the pliers in the air for Robbie to see, pretty much ignoring what he said.

 

“Thank you, but couldn’t you have just _walked_ to them?”

 

“Don’t worry about me. I’m not going to hurt myself.” And, just as Robbie thought he would, Alex did an aerial somersault into the air, landing on his feet beside Robbie. He held the pliers out to him, which Robbie took.   
  
“Elves are really durable, you know? That’s why we’re widely considered as one of the most difficult creatures to kill.”

 

“Yeah, be that as it may, …that sort of reasoning is not really the kind of example I think we should be setting for our daughters, don’t you think?” Robbie smiled and let it go though- the girls had already ditched helping them to play outside of the garage instead. “They don’t have bones made of diamonds like _you_ do.”

 

Alex chuckled. “I wouldn’t say I have bones made of diamonds, that’s a bit _too_ far-“ The elf sighed again, in a somewhat wistful manner. “…Hey, Robbie? I’ve been thinking about something.”   
  
“Yeah? About what?” He asked, cutting some wires.

 

“…Do you remember the evening that the four of us all went out together to celebrate the fitness center being open for six months?”

 

Robbie nodded. “Yeah? What about it?”

 

“Nothing, I just thought that that was really nice. I’d like to do something like that again, actually.”

 

Robbie stopped what he was doing, glancing up at him. “Really?”

 

“Yeah, except maybe this time, …it’ll just be the two of us.”

 

“…Just the two of us, huh?” Robbie repeated, thinking. “…Now that I think about it, …we don’t really do anything where it’s just the two of us, do we?” he asked.

 

Alex shook his head. “That’s right. So, I was thinking. Dinner this coming Friday. We can try to find some place that works for the both of us. How does that sound?”

 

“This Friday?” Robbie asked. “Sounds doable.”

 

Alex smiled, and was actually even trying his best to contain his excitement. But, he was still jumping around, just a little bit. “Perfect! I’ll meet you at your place on Friday.”

 

 

 

****

  
  
  


 

  
  
  



	10. Like a "Date"

“Alright Sweetheart,” Robbie slipped on his shoes. “I’m going out with Stephanie’s father for the evening. Spaghetti and pudding are in the fridge. I’ll be gone for a couple hours, but I should be back at no later than 8:00 at the latest. I think you should be able to take care of yourself in that amount of time. We’re only going to be a couple blocks away. But, if there’s an emergency, you can call my cell and I’ll come home right away. If I don’t answer for some reason, go see Mr. and Mrs. Fleming at the salon next door, okay?”

 

Ella nodded, watching her father grab his coat. “Got it.”   
  
“Good girl. And one more thing- don’t let Sugar-Pie chew on anymore shoes while I’m gone.”

 

Ella rolled her eyes, smiling up at Robbie. “I can only promise _so much_ , dad,” she joked, giving him one more glance. “Say, …dad?”

 

“Yes? What is it?” Robbie looked down at his daughter.

 

“Is this thing you’re doing like…a _date_?”

 

Robbie blinked, freezing at the question. A _date_? He sat down, quiet for a long time.

 

“…Dad?”

 

“I-I _don’t know_ ,” Robbie finally stammered, running his hands through his dark hair. He started to think, his mind raking through all the moments that the two men spent together previously. …If he recalls, Alex never explicitly _called_ the night out that they were about to have a “date”, …but when he _really_ thought about it…it kind of made sense a bit?

 

He stared at his watch, before getting up.

 

“…Dad?”

 

Without a word, he started making his way up the stairs, heading to his bedroom to change, and put on a bit of eyeliner and mascara. Maybe _this_ time, Alex might actually notice.

 

***

 

“Hey, Robbie!” He was met by an enthusiastic elf at the door as soon as he came back downstairs, who was bouncing foot-to-foot in place with a smile on his face. “You look nice,” he said to him right away. “Hey- you did something different with your eyes.” He grinned.

 

Robbie felt his face flush. Alex seemed to have cleaned up _really_ well. He wasn’t in his usual sportswear, and the ensemble he had on actually looked… _pretty nice_ on him. And not to mention, the only blue to be seen was on the buttons of his shirt. It was a good call, deciding to change into something nicer before Alex came by. The only part of his outfit that seemed unfitting was the fact that he chose to wear the _bunny hat_ out today, …but Robbie actually didn’t mind it.

 

The thing that Robbie expected the _least_ though, was Alex _also_ wearing a bit of eye makeup. _Peach eye shadow_ , to be exact. Robbie didn’t know what to say. He stood there, looking stupid- well, … _stunned_. …Did he do all of this because this was supposed to be a date? He was too nervous to ask. But, he tried to play it cool, smiling back at him with as much confidence as he could fake, blessing the fact that he’d always been quite the actor.

 

“That’s the best I’ve ever seen you look,” he told him, returning a compliment. “Come on, _Sportabunny_. Let’s go.”

 

***

 

Figuring out a place that both Robbie _and_ Alex could eat at was actually a very difficult thing to do. Robbie couldn’t have a proper meal without a lot of sugar, while Alex had a hard time stomaching most things that weren’t fresh and natural- _especially_ things that contained a lot of refined sugar, which also made him feel weak. In the end, the two of them settled on a nearby Japanese restaurant for some sushi and sashimi, since Alex had a feeling that fresh raw fish would be something he could manage, and Robbie would be fine as long as he drank plenty of soda.

 

The two were seated a moment ago, surprised that the restaurant was fuller than what they thought it would be. They had no idea that this restaurant was a _trendy_ one. Well, it _was_ a Friday night, so maybe it _wasn’t_ such a surprise. Luckily, they managed to get seated at a table in a less crowded part of the building. A waitress brought them their menus and their drinks (Sprite for Robbie, just water for Alex), and now that their order had been taken, they were finally left alone to talk.

 

“So, …peach eye shadow, huh?”

 

Alex laughed. “You know, I almost went with _blue_ -“ he joked. “But yes, I did peach like you suggested.”

 

“ _Good,_ ” said Robbie. “Because I have a good eye for that kind of stuff.”

 

“That, you do.” Alex smiled a little.

 

“Where did you learn to do it though?” Robbie asked, curious.

 

“I watched _a lot_ of YouTube makeup tutorials with Stephanie last night,” explained Alex. “She helped me out a little bit too. We had fun with it earlier, …though I don’t think it’s really my thing.”

 

“Then why do it?”

“Why? Because I knew that it would surprise you.”

 

Robbie _wanted_ to say that he hated Alex for that stupid grin he had on his face that was making his heart rate increase, …but he just _couldn’t_. From day one, there were a _lot_ of things that he did and said to Robbie that he wished he could be annoyed by. But, Robbie knew what he was _actually_ feeling when he was around him all too well. “ _Surprise_ me?” he asked.

 

“Yeah. …What was it that you said a while ago, again? Something about how makeup could do wonders on a man?” He shrugged. “You saying that made me want to give it a shot for once.”

 

Well, Alex’s makeup did wonders on _Robbie,_ at least. His face grew warmer than it already was. “It _does_ , and you’ve proven it to me, …but I can’t say that I understand why you chose to wear _that_ hat to a place like this, _Sportabunny,_ ” he teased, trying to change the subject.

 

“It’s _because_ you keep calling me “Sportabunny”,” he replied with a smirk.

 

“Well- that’s what you _get_ when you look like a rabbit!”

 

“…But am I a _cute_ rabbit?” he asked, batting his eyes in a way that _really_ sold his case.

 

“Well-“ Robbie made a small noise of discomfort, blushing more. Acting cool and confident was getting harder for him to do. But, he refused to give into him and embarrass himself. “ _Sure_ , if it makes you feel good about yourself. Then yes, you’re _cute_ ,” he told him.

 

Alex did not seem convinced enough by his words though. “Well- how about _now_?” He asked. He grabbed his hat by the ears and _yanked_ it off, his short, blonde waves of hair bouncing free over the top of his head-and his ears out in all of their glory. He brushed his hand through his hair and flashed him a shining grin, knowing _exactly_ what he was doing.

 

“Sporty- your- your _ears_!” Robbie covered his face, the entirety of it red hot now. He gave up. That sneaky trick he pulled had just completely done Robbie in. There was _no doubt_ at this point that this was a date. “ _Damn it_ -“

 

The elf just laughed it all off. “The lights are really dim here, I don’t care!”

 

Alex was quick to eat his words though, when the waitress finally came in with their food. At the speed of light, he tried covering his ears with his hands. Luckily, the waitress didn’t notice them at all as she placed their food on the table and quickly left.

 

The two men looked down at the plates before them with identical looks of confusion. The meal lying in front of them was _clearly_ uncharted territory.

 

“…Have you had sushi before?” asked Alex.

 

“…I haven’t,” Robbie admitted. “You?”

 

The other shook his head. “I’ve had fish straight out of the river before, …but not sushi.”

 

“…Straight out of the river?” Robbie asked, staring down at some yellowtail.

 

“…It’s an elf thing. Well, let’s give this a try together then. It’ll be fun.”

 

“Yeah.” Robbie picked up his chopsticks, having trouble picking up a piece at first and dropping it several times, but he finally got it.

 

“One…”

 

“Two…”   
  
“…Three.”

 

At the same time, they both tried a bite.

 

“Hm…it’s not bad,” Alex commented, already swallowing. “It’s a bit different, but not too bad. What do _you_ think?”

 

Robbie was still chewing, and chewing slowly. He didn’t look like he hated it, but he looked _puzzled_.

 

Alex chuckled. “Not used to it?”

 

Robbie nodded, swallowing. “Yeah…I’m so used to everything being so sweet. That was quite a change. I can’t even tell whether I like or dislike it, it’s just so _different_ ,” he commented, dumbstruck. “It’s almost like I’m just putting a random thing in my mouth and not _food_.”

 

“Yeah, I guess I could understand that. …I actually don’t eat things other than raw fruits and vegetables too often. Any sort of meat is kind of a rare thing for me to have.”

 

Alex still ended up going in for a second piece though, this time, a roll. He put it in his mouth and gave it a couple chews, but then he froze and his eyes began to water. Suddenly, they widened into a look of alarm and the elf grabbed the glass nearest to him, drinking out of it with great ferocity, taking big gulps and leaving Robbie dumbfounded for a moment.

 

“Let me guess, that roll had a ton of wasabi in it?”

 

Alex just nodded as he continued to drink, nearly drinking the entirety of the glass’s contents before setting it down. He wore a look of regret though and when Robbie saw the glass, he immediately understood why. Tiny bubbles. _Carbonation._ That wasn’t water; he grabbed Robbie’s soda by mistake.

 

“…Will you be okay?” he finally asked him after a bit of hesitation and watching him with a pained look.

 

Alex nodded, his face rapidly turning pale. “I’ll be fine-“

 

***

 

Robbie said that he would never do it if it ever happened, but here he was, holding Alex’s hair for him as he knelt before the men’s room toilet, vomiting up everything he had eaten that day. He specifically _told_ Alex before that he would never do this for him, but _damn it_ , remembering what he said the first time that they ever ate together about risking sickness to spend some time with him made Robbie _weak_.

 

He couldn’t help but look at him with sympathy. Alex’s shoulders were _shaking_ from all the effort it took for him to get that all out of his system. He probably wouldn’t have even made it to the restroom without Robbie’s help; he was rendered _helpless_ on his feet and needed to lean on Robbie the whole way there. He never knew just how quickly his body reacted to eating too much of the wrong thing… “…How are you feeling, Sporty?” he finally asked gently after the other finished a long bout of retching.

 

Alex lifted his head a little to look up at him, breath just heavy enough to be heard clearly in the restroom’s complete silence. “I’m-“ He cut off, leaning towards the bowl with a violent cough, dry heaving. But this time, nothing came out. “…I’m sorry,” he finally managed to say, voice hoarse. “You didn’t need to do this for me.”

 

“Don’t give me any of that; we wouldn’t want you ruining your hair. I don’t want to take you home with your hair all caked together smelling rancid. ... Besides-“ he smiled softly down at him, making sure to melt any sort of feelings of guilt or regret the other may have had away. “I didn’t just want to help you., I…I also _really_ wanted to spend time with you-”

 

Alex managed a smile, wiping his mouth clean with some toilet paper. “Tell me, are _all_ sugarplum fairies this sweet?” he asked.

 

Robbie smirked. “ _No_ ,” he answered, ruffling up the elf’s blonde locks until they were a wild mess atop his head, before giving them a gentle tug. “Most of us are _assholes_.”

 

Alex laughed, and it may have been a short, tired, and out-of-breath laugh, but it was genuine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

****

  
  
  


 

  
  
  



	11. Love thy Neighbor

In the nine months that Robbie had known Alex, _a lot_ has happened between the two. Honestly speaking, when he saw the elf and his daughter move into the empty building across the street on that quiet August afternoon, he thought that Alex would be nothing _but_ a neighbor living across the street, no different than the rest of the neighbors in the neighborhood, that Alex would be a decent guy- but that he and Robbie would keep to themselves, staying out of each other’s business.

 

He did _not_ expect Alex to drop by one day, asking to eat lunch together with him. He did not expect _himself_ to agree. He did _not_ think that the one lunch they shared together would end up amounting to anything afterwards. He did _not_ think that he would actually be _interested_ in the things that a chatterbox like Alex always went on about- he never thought that he would _actually_ be listening to what he had to say, rather than just _pretending_ to, like he did around most people. He _never_ thought that he would tell him all his secrets and the little things about himself that he didn’t like to think about in _full confidence_ \- yet, he surprised himself by doing just that. He _never_ thought that he would end up spending at least a _little_ bit of time with Alex _every single day_.

 

The thing that surprised Robbie the most about his friendship with Alex however, was just how _dumb_ it could make him act sometimes. He wouldn’t be in his current situation of sitting in the passenger’s seat of Alex’s car, on their way to the plane that they just finished building together, if Robbie hadn’t carelessly agreed to be the _first_ person that Alex took up in the sky with him in the first place.

 

What was Robbie _thinking_? He was _terrified_ of heights!

 

 ** _Shit._** _I’m going to fucking **piss myself** when we’re up there, _he thought, his head turned to look out the window so Alex couldn’t see his face.

 

The hole that Robbie dug for himself got too deep. He _worked_ on the plane with him for _hours_ on end; he _knew_ that Alex saw this project as something that was _theirs,_ and was very well aware of how set Alex was on keeping his word of letting Robbie be the first one to go up with him. It was Robbie’s _own_ fault that that happened too. It was _wrong_ for Robbie to fake enthusiasm about getting to fly with him and he _knew_ it, …but Alex just looked so _happy_ whenever he brought it up that- that he just kept on _lying_ to him, and putting in his best efforts to hide the fact that he had been dreading the day that he would have to hop into the cockpit with him for takeoff.

 

“Aaaand, we’re here!” Alex cheerfully announced their arrival, parking the car right outside of the garage that the plane was occupying. He looked over at Robbie with an excited grin, which Robbie returned a half smile at before they both unbuckled and got out of the car.

 

“The weather seems _great_ for flying today,” Alex noted while they stepped into the garage. “I checked the forecast last night and the sky is supposed to be clear all day, like it is now. There’s wind, but it’s not _too_ windy. We won’t expect anything like rain to happen either.”

 

“That’s good.” Robbie gave a small nod, following the other inside, close behind him.

 

“The plane looks _great_ ,” Alex said, admiring their work. It was a low-wing, ultralight plane that had a maximum capacity of two people. In their case, the pilot, and his secretly terrified passenger. “But, before we even _think_ about flying, it would be a good idea to double-check that we have everything good to go. Hmm…fuel?” Alex asked Robbie.

 

“Well, you haven’t _flown_ it anywhere yet,” Robbie pointed out.  “So, shouldn’t the tank still be full?”

Hearing his point, Alex laughed at himself and hit himself over the head jokingly. “ _Silly question_ ,” he said, sticking out his tongue and ignoring the eye roll he got from Robbie. But he got serious from then on, taking a few moments to slowly circle the plane, inspecting the exterior and making sure that everything looked right. “Alright, the parachute looks good, and the tires on the landing gear are filled completely, and there doesn’t seem to be any leaks or scratches anywhere, so all that there is left to do check the engine and controls.”

“Yes. All that’s left is the cockpit. That sounds about right…” Robbie put on a small smile for the other, having kept a little bit quieter than he would usually be, unable to get his mind off of the fact that he was minutes away from facing one of the things that he feared most. He knew for a while that this moment was going to come, but he still felt unprepared for it. But at least, Alex didn’t seem to notice yet that something was on his mind.

“Alright, perfect!” Alex clapped his hands together and did a bit of shadowboxing, ready and _pumped_ , unable to simply stand still. “Let’s roll this thing outside and get in then, shall we?”

Alex seemed not to intend on getting any sort of help from Robbie though. He took the time to demonstrate the strength that only an elf could possibly posses, by getting behind the plane and effortlessly pushing it out of the garage and onto the dirt runway.

Used to seeing Alex perform such feats of strength at this point of their relationship, Robbie just watched him with a simple smile, doing well in hiding the fact that he was anxious. But, hiding his anxiety did _not_ make it go away.

 _I can’t do this_ , he told himself, swallowing as he watched Alex keep pushing the plane down the runway. _I don’t want to freak out in front of him and ruin the whole experience. –I don’t want to freak out **period.** There’s **got** to be a way that I could get myself out of this. _

The hole that he dug for himself really, _really WAS_ deep. It was about to happen. The two of them were about to _get into that plane._ Alex was already one step ahead of him even, swinging the door open.

“Come on!” He laughed, all smiles as he held the door open and gestured to the plane’s interior, offering Robbie a place inside first. But, when Robbie looked up, he just stalled and stared at him, frozen in place where he stood. This caused Alex’s smile to fade just a little bit, but the enthusiastic look was still overall going strong. “ _Come on_ ,” he repeated, patting the spot next to the pilot’s seat. “There’s a spot for you.”

 _Fuck, **please** don’t smile at me like that. The guilt that you’re making me feel is **killing** me. _“Umm, are you sure that there is enough space for _both_ of us?” he hesitated, an unsure look that he did not mean to have spreading onto his face by complete accident.

Unfortunately for Robbie, Alex noticed the change in his expression, and he realized that something did not seem right. “Well, _yeah_ , it has enough room.” He blinked. “The plane is a two-seater. …Hey, are you feeling alright, Robbie?” he asked, now looking a little bit concerned. “You’re making a face like something is bothering you.”

At the inquiry, Robbie stiffened up, growing tense. _Shit!_ His nerves were getting the best of him. After a while, he surrendered with a sigh, looking down at the ground and away from Alex, in an attempt to mask the fact that he felt just a bit humiliated with himself. “…I don’t think I’m ready to accompany you just yet,” he admitted. “Is it alright if I just stay down here and _watch_ you fly the first time around?”

For a _very_ brief moment, Alex frowned, looking a little bit disappointed. Robbie _hated_ that face, but fortunately, he did not have to see it for very long and the elf’s usual warm smile made its way back onto his face, and he nodded at Robbie in understanding. “Alright then,” he told him.

But suddenly, his expression changed once again, his eyes lighting up with excitement. “ _That’s right!”_ he exclaimed in realization. “I have a communication radio that we could use!”

Alex quickly disappeared off somewhere, but in no time had sprinted back to Robbie, doing that thing he does when he’s excited again where he shuffles from foot-to-foot. Robbie wouldn’t just _admit_ it, but he found the trait kind of _cute_.

“Here it is!” The elf held out a walkie-talkie like device to him, keeping a second one for himself. “This way, I still get to talk to you, even if you’re not up there with me.” He laughed. “I _knew_ this thing wasn’t a waste of money! - We can still experience this _together_.” Alex smiled fondly, gazing up at Robbie’s eyes.

Robbie, unable to help it, smiled fondly back, feeling his face flush. “ _Perfect,”_ he breathed, relieved that they found a way around his fear that _still_ made Alex happy. “I’ll be your ground control. Good luck up there, Sporty.”

Alex flashed a grin and gave him a thumbs up, stepping into the cockpit and closing the door.

…At the very least, Robbie could _still_ watch him fly around from down here. There would still be satisfaction in _that,_ at least. There was satisfaction in knowing that up there, Alex would _still_ be having the time of his life, even if Robbie was too scared to join him.

When he heard the engine turn on and saw the propeller on the nose start to spin, he smiled. Even if he wasn’t sitting right beside Alex right now, he still felt excitement when he wasn’t the one about to go up in the air.

“Alright.” He heard Alex’s voice come in through the radio. “Commencing takeoff!”

When the plane started speeding down the runway, he felt the excitement within him grow, and an even bigger smile that he couldn’t help crept onto his face. 

The plane then began its gradual ascent into the air, and he could hear Alex’s cheers loud and clear through the radio. “Alright, we’re flying!” he laughed, and honestly, the sound was _more_ _beautiful that it had ever been_. “Whooooo!” He bet that Alex was smiling _so hard_ right now.

“ _Alright!”_ Robbie cheered right along with him, looking up at the ultralight plane, which was now _at least_ a good couple thousand feet into the air, and getting higher. “Way to go, Sporty! You’re _flying!”_ He kept grinning up at the plane, holding the radio device close.

 _He must be feeling **incredible** right now, _Robbie thought, laughing right along with the elf. _He’s worked **so hard** for this, and it’s all finally paying off. _

“All right Robbie,” the voice came through the radio. “I am increasing altitude!”

“Go for it!” Robbie kept his eyes glued to the sky, and listened carefully to the radio to the sounds of the engine in the background, and the soaring winds. He watched the plane flying overhead get smaller and smaller the higher up that Alex went in altitude. But suddenly, he heard a strange creaking noise come through from the radio, followed by an “uh oh” from Alex.

 _That didn’t sound good_.

“Uh oh?” Robbie asked into the radio. “ _What “_ uh-oh”?”

“I-I don’t know what just happened.” There was another creaking sound, followed by a string of curses from Alex. “But I’m getting some- ow!” He heard him bang against something. “ – _turbulence_ all of the sudden.”

“ _Turbulence_?” He repeated in disbelief, eyes focused on the plane. “But-“ He flinched when he was cut off by another strange noise and another string of curse words. “With the current conditions right now, that doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense. The weather is just fine, like you said…” he was beginning to sound worried.

“…Alright, change of plans. I’m heading back down because I-“ he coughed a few times.

“ _Alex?” That_ didn’t sound good either. He heard even more coughing.

“I think there’s something wrong, I need to land this thing-“ _More_ coughing.

“ _Alex?_ ” the panic rose in Robbie’s voice, and now he could see it- there _really was_ something wrong- it looked as if he had a problem with keeping the plane under control; it dipped and swooped from time to time. “ _Alex,_ what’s going on!?”

“I-“ he coughed some more. “ _Smoke-“_

 _“SMOKE!?_ ” Robbie just felt his heart drop to his stomach. “From _where_?” he demanded.

“ _Lots_ ,” Alex’s voice was growing weaker. There was less talking from him, and more coughing. “I’m-“ he coughed. “I _can’t land_. _Need_ to jump-“

“ _JUMP_? You mean, out of the plane? Sporty, _NO!_ ” he barked at him, clutching at his heart, which was thumping _painfully_ hard in his chest. “No, no no no no-“ He shook his head even though he could not be seen, running a hand through his hair in distress when he just heard more coughing. “You’re not even wearing a parachute. I know it’s hard to breathe right now and that you think your elf body is indestructible, but there is _no way_ that you would survive that fall!” He yelled loudly into the radio, praying that Alex could still hear him. “Look, _I’m_ ground control, and I’m telling you that you need to _stay put._ Deploy the ballistic parachute on top of the plane already before it _stalls_ and you can’t fix it!”

Robbie’s voice wavered, and he could feel his body shake. Just _holding_ the radio still was proving to be a challenge, but he clutched that thing until his knuckles turned white.

He swallowed thickly, looking back up at the sky. He felt tears prick at his eyes when he noticed that the plane was dipping lower and lower- and that the contrails had turned from white to a deep grey…and a little bit of smoke was billowing out of the tail.

“ _HURRY!”_

He kept watch of the plane, and _thank God_ , saw the ballistic parachute open. …But- he no longer heard any coughing coming through the radio.  
  
“…Alex?”

Nothing.  
  
He held his breath, and then exhaled shakily, shuddering with a choked noise. “… _Sporty?_ ”

 _Still_ nothing. Alex remained unresponsive.

 _Please don’t tell me…_ One, two, three tears streamed down his cheeks. _…That the smoke knocked him unconscious-_

Robbie dropped the radio, bringing shaky hands up to his mouth, a harsh sob coming out of it before he dropped to his knees, crying into his hands.

Alex was _unresponsive._ There was no telling whether he was just knocked out, …or if the smoke had already _killed_ him. More and more smoke was flowing out of the plane and things were looking to be pretty bleak for Alex.

Robbie _tried_ to help- he told him to deploy the parachute, but who knew whether or not that thing was going to catch fire between now and the time that the plane would reach the ground. He was _powerless_ in this situation. There was nothing he could do but _wait and cry_ , and hope for the best …but hoping for the best seemed _impossible_.

He lost his father to the man’s selfishness. He lost his mother to her rejection and disappointment in him. He lost his ex-wife to her intolerance. He didn’t _want_ to lose Alex to _this-_

 _What happened to you always being there when I needed you_? He asked himself, body wracking with sobs, knowing that his thoughts would never reach the man in the smoking airplane. … _And being able to tell from a mile away?_

He couldn’t watch.

_I don’t want to eat cool whip by myself, or have no one to speak in Icelandic to. I don’t want to come home **by myself** driving **your** car. I don’t want to tell Stephanie that she’s going to **outlive** her father after all. I don’t want you to be **dead**! I should’ve just **sucked it up** and went up there with you! I probably could’ve used my magic to fix the problem! How could I have been **too afraid** to do what would’ve **made you happy?** How could I be so **selfish?**_

His heart hurt. His whole chest hurt, from all of this crying. Even his _back_ hurt. …Actually, his back felt _really weird_ …it was starting to get really sore and uncomfortable.

The pain and discomfort spiked very quickly, and Robbie groaned, shuddering as he felt what seemed like something _growing_ out of his shoulder blades. His eyes widened when he heard the sound of fabric ripping, and felt a light breeze hit his back.

…Wait- it _couldn’t be…could it?_

_…Wings?_

Robbie let out a gasp of surprise, feeling a part of him that never existed before twitch involuntarily, producing a loud fluttering sound behind him.  

 They _were!_

 Robbie was a little confused at first- but he had absolutely no time to question it.

Robbie may not be as knowledgeable in flying planes as Alex was, but if there was _one_ thing that Robbie knew a lot about from personal experience in the air, it was _being dropped from the sky._ He knew precisely how long it would take before the plane would reach the ground, and he did _not_ have very much time _at all_. He had maybe _four_ minutes at the most to fly up and save Alex from death by fire or suffocation- presuming that he’s still alive-…on wings that he had _just_ grown with _no_ experience in flying. Fairies immediately knew how to use their wings by instinct, but it was still something that was easier with experience.

He got up and gave himself a running start, batting his freshly grown wings as fast as he could, until his feet were no longer touching the ground. This was a _long_ shot- a _very_ long shot, but he couldn’t let Alex die in there _knowing_ that he could at least have made an _attempt_ to do _something!_ His wings finally coming in at this very moment was _fate_. He _had_ to try to save Alex. …He just also needed to try not to look down too often.

He had only flew a few hundred feet into the air, and he _already_ was feeling tired.  The wind slapped at his face violently, with his ascent, and even underneath his clothes, he could feel goose bumps form. Every few seconds, he would gasp for cold air, feeling it freeze his throat. But, he still pushed himself further, beating his wings faster and faster. His eyes that were teary from a mixture of panic and the wind hitting them looked straight up at the smoking plane.

Eventually, he got close enough that he could taste a bit of smoke in the air. He made one final push towards the plane, which was _very_ close now. When he was _really_ close, he batted the smoke away, coughing and feeling around desperately for the opening latch of the plane’s door.

When he found it, he swung the door open, panting heavily while he scooped up Alex’s limp and unconscious body. It still had a bit of warmth to it- he needed to _rush_ his way back down to the ground.

He held Alex’s body close to his chest, and looked down at the ground, which from all the way up here looked like a patched-up quilt. Everything was so, _so_ small from all the way up here…He swallowed. They were in for a _quite a_ flight down…

 

***

 

“…Alex?”

When Alex opened his eyes and finally came to, the first thing that Robbie did was _Thank God_ that his attempts at CPR had actually _worked_. The second thing he did was bite down on his own lower lip as he brushed an unruly wave of blonde hair out of the elf’s eyes.

“…Robbie?” Alex rubbed his eyes, everything slowly coming back into focus. His brows furrowed, as if he were trying to remember what had just happened to him, but then the memory hit him. He blinked a few times, his eyes still focused on the fairy, who looked so exhausted and distraught, …and who _had wings now_.

“…Are you okay?” He finally asked, his voice soft. His expression was soft too, as he slowly sat up, a hand reaching out in an attempt to touch one of the wings. “Oh Robbie,” he said in an endearing whisper. “Those are _beautiful…”_

Hearing that voice. He was _so relieved_ \- Alex was _alive._ He was _okay…_ and he was asking if _Robbie_ was okay! His jaw was clenched shut, but not for very long, as he could no longer hold back his emotions.

“ _SPORTY!”_ Robbie hit his breaking point. He threw himself at the elf, holding him closer than he’s ever had in the nine months that he had known him, and he began to cry all over again. He hadn’t cried this hard, nor this much, at _any_ other point in his _entire life_. He was so _tired._ Both physically, and emotionally. He _needed_ Alex in his arms _now_ \- he had no idea what he would’ve done with himself, had Alex not made it. He sobbed into his shoulder, squeezing him tighter- as if he were _still_ afraid that he might lose him.

“Robbie…It’s okay. _I’m_ okay. Just let it all out...” Alex put on the most soothing tone that he was capable of, his arms wrapped around Robbie’s lower back, careful of his new wings when returning the hug that he assumed that Robbie was in dire need of. “…Look at you,” he gave him a warm smile, reaching a hand out to wipe the man’s tearstained cheeks. “You’ve _finally_ got your wings…although-“ he remembered back on the conversation they had earlier about growing wings. “…You weren’t the one who was in danger-“

“You’re _wrong_!” he shouted at him with a sob, letting out a whine and swallowing his breath, only for it to come back out as a tearful hiccup. “I _WAS_ in danger!”

For a second, Alex was taken aback by the sudden outburst. But after thinking about what he just said, he nodded. “…I understand what you mean by that, Robbie.” He leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “ _I love you too.”_

When he heard those words, Robbie pulled back, looking at Alex with surprised, bloodshot eyes. He wiped them with his sleeve, but only to tear up again the longer he looked at him. “I…I _Love_ you, Sporty!”

Alex smiled, planting another kiss on his forehead. “I love you, Robbie. So, _so_ much. _”_


	12. Epilogue #1: "Afdrif"

“You know,” Alex looked around at the scenery before him. “This is really nice. I can’t believe I haven’t been here before.”

“Yeah, I couldn’t believe it either when I asked you if you’ve been to this park before and you said “no”.”

Alex smiled, giving the other’s hand a light squeeze as they continued walking together. “Thank you for taking me here, Robbie. It’s very colorful.”

Robbie smiled softly. “I _told_ you waiting until spring would be worth it.”

Robbie could not believe how much time had passed he and Alex by. It had been almost two years since they first met, and _so much_ has happened between the two.

Robbie remembered when he barely even _knew_ Alex- but sometimes, those memories felt more distant than they actually were. Sometimes, it was hard to recall the days before they grew close. Maybe, it was because falling in love with someone is something that happens unexpectedly- as easy as it is to keep track of benchmarks in a relationship, it’s hard to pinpoint a beginning to such feelings of love.

They officially became a couple a year ago. In early May, not long after the day that the two confessed their love for each other. Their first kiss happened later that same evening, when they went home. They started holding hands about a week later in private. One month into the relationship, they finally decided to tell the girls, who were delighted that they were a couple. They came out publically shortly after, and went on their second date, where they held hands when walking down the street for the first time, much like what they are doing now. More and more dates happened, and they would stay together longer and longer, until at some point, they started to spend nights together at times, which started off with just talking until dawn, but intellectual intimacy gradually crossed into physical.

Robbie could remember exact dates of each of the “firsts” that they shared together like snapshots, but the moment he fell in love…that seemed like forever ago…-but it _wasn’t_ forever ago. Their love just _felt like_ forever.

“Let’s sit down here.” Robbie gestured towards a bench, glancing at his boyfriend, who looked _just_ as Robbie expected him to be- unsure of that idea. He sighed. “…You don’t _always_ have to be moving, you know. Sometimes, it’s nicer to just _watch_ everything else move around you instead.”

“But-“ Alex protested. “It’s such a nice day, and there’s more to see-“

“The park isn’t going to pick itself up and _leave_ \- come on-“ With a flutter of his wings, Robbie tugged at the elf’s arm, leading him to the bench to sit down. “This is just for a moment.”

Robbie knew how Alex felt about sitting still for a long time- he didn’t really like to do so. But, he had a feeling that at least _this_ time around, Alex would appreciate the scenery enough to just rest for a couple minutes. He seemed to be proving himself right, as the elf was now leaning himself against Robbie, his head rested comfortably on his shoulder. Alex had always been the more touchy-feely one of the two while Robbie was not as big of an initiator of affection when in public, but the moment was nice enough that he didn’t mind.

“Comfortable?”

Alex nodded, tracing his fingers along the other’s palm. “ _Very_. I might just curl up and fall asleep here.”

“Don’t get _that_ comfortable,” Robbie warned. “I’m not flying you all the way home.”

Alex laughed, snuggling up against him a bit more. “I’m only _kidding_ ,” he told him, reaching a finger out to boop his boyfriend on the nose, chuckling when it crinkled in response. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“ _Good._ You _better_ not,” the fairy huffed. “I don’t want to get this outfit all sweaty from having to carry sleepy you across town. It’s too nice.”

At the other’s comment, Alex just shook his head, smiling to himself. “But, you say that about _everything_ that you wear!”

“Well, that’s because I look _good_ in everything!” He huffed again, puffing out his cheeks, and he grabbed one of the other’s pointed ears and gave it a soft yank for teasing him.

“ _Ouch! Robbie!”_ the elf cried. He sounded anything but pained though. “That wasn’t very nice,” he laughed, however still rubbing at his ear just a little bit, before prompty reaching up, and tugging at Robbie’s own ear to get back at him.

“ _Hey!”_ he pouted, slapping the other’s hand away, now rubbing _his_ ear too. “I didn’t do it _nearly_ as hard to you as you did to me-“

“But _my_ ears are much more sensitive than yours-“

 _“Oh my_ -”

Robbie heard a third voice suddenly speak up and he froze, drawing himself away from his boyfriend to look up to see who it was. Robbie wasn’t familiar with the woman whom his eyes landed on, but Alex’s eyes seemed to light up.

“I didn’t expect to run into _you_ here, Sportacus. This is a surprise.”

Alex laughed, giving the woman a wave. “Hello, Bessie!” He sat up, no longer leaning against Robbie, but he was still holding his hand. “How have you and Milford been?”

“Oh, we’ve been well. Milford _finally_ got around to fixing our fence yesterday. _That man_ -“ the woman shook her head. “I love him, but sometimes he’s just a _big_ klutz. I keep telling him that he should come to your Pilates classes with me to fix that.”

“Well, if he ever does decide to come, he is _very_ welcome,” Alex grinned.

Robbie remained on the sidelines of this conversation, sitting next to Alex quietly and waiting for the two to finish talking. He noticed however, that Bessie was staring at him- in particular, his wings. Ever since he and Alex “came out”, the two got a LOT of stares. It wasn’t everyday that you’d see a fairy and an elf together- or a fairy and an elf _at all_. Luckily for the two of them, Lazytown was very accepting, in more ways than one.

“And you must be _Robbie!_ Where are my manners?” she held out her hand to him, which he took. “I’ve heard _a lot_ about you from Sportacus.”

“Oh- you did?” asked Robbie, flustered as they shook hands.

“I _did_ ,” Bessie confirmed. “He talks about you all the time! He _sure is_ fond of you. And he’s right- those wings of yours _really are_ just _gorgeous.”_

“…Thank you-“ Robbie blushed lightly, and when he glanced over at Alex, he noticed that he had a light blush on as well.

“Yep, I’m a _very_ lucky guy.” He smiled shyly, and Robbie was glad that he wasn’t the only one who was caught off guard.

“I really _should_ get going though…Milford and I have a date tonight ourselves. The two of you have fun on the rest of yours now, alright?”

Alex nodded, giving her one last wave. “We will. I’ll see you on Tuesday, Bessie.”

 

Once Bessie left, Alex glanced back at Robbie, who was still staring straight down the path that Bessie left on, a little dazed. “That was Stephanie’s aunt, Bessie. She’s a regular at the gym.”

“Oh, really?” asked Robbie, snapping back to reality. “Sorry, Sometimes I just forget that everyone else calls you “Sportacus”,” he told him. “…By the way, how did that even start?” he asked curiously.

“How did it _start?_ I’m surprised that you never asked me that before.”

“I _have_ asked you before. A couple times, actually.” Robbie rolled his eyes at his lover. “You just get so off-topic when you talk sometimes, that I never actually got the answer.”

“Oh- Well, I’m _really_ lucky to have someone as patient as you.” Alex chuckled.

Robbie shrugged. “I’m not as patient as I am just used to it at this point. Anyway, _why do people call you “Sportacus”?”_

“Why?” Alex rubbed his chin, his mind going back to the old days. “It started in college. That’s where Crystal and I first met. I was a health education major, and I was on a couple sports teams and student organizations. While we were dating, she got the bright idea to start calling me “Sportacus” because of it. Then, some of my friends started calling me it, and eventually, the whole school, and it just- stuck since then. …Although-“ the elf paused, giving the fairy a stupid grin. “I think that I like the name “Sporty” a lot more at this point. _Especially_ because it always comes from _you_ -“

Robbie _hated_ when Alex made that dumb face. It always meant that he was about to say something that would embarrass Robbie. _And sure enough-_ He scowled at him, feeling his face flush. That face did nothing to intimidate Alex though, who instead just started laughing.   
  
“ _Cute-“_ he commented, planting a kiss on his reddened cheek. “You know…there’s something that Crystal told me a while ago that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately…”

“Hm?” Robbie blinked. “About _what_?”

“Before she died. She-“ Alex paused, caught in his memories again. But this time, instead of looking pained when he thought about her, he smiled warmly up at Robbie. “She told me that I shouldn’t let my happiness end with her. That I was still young, and had _a lot_ of life ahead of me. …You know, she was right…She told me that no matter how much I missed her, that it would make her happy if I moved on, and found somebody else to be happy with -And if I didn’t, …she would go ahead and send someone down to me herself. …I’m pretty sure she fated us to meet.”

He leaned right back up against Robbie, ear pressed right up against his heart. When he heard it beat faster, Alex smiled contently, tracing more little shapes into his boyfriend’s palm. “…I think I should thank her more often, because you are _perfect_ -“

His smile grew warmer and his gaze more affectionate, and Robbie swallowed, knowing that Alex could hear his heart pounding faster and faster, and could probably see the blood rush to his face. “ _Stop,”_ he mumbled, feeling his face burn.

“But it’s true! She must’ve picked you knowing that you’re exactly my type!” he grinned, that stupid look that Robbie (not really) hated back on once again.

He made a frustrated growl, covering his blushing face with his hands. “ _God_ , you’re _so embarrassing_ sometimes-“ he complained. “Don’t just say things like that in public!”   
  
“Why not?” Alex asked. “Nobody else in town understands Icelandic.”

“Well-“ the fairy made another frustrated noise, cutting himself off. “Calling it all _fate_ is just- …it has _really strong_ implications,” he told him.

“…Sorry. Did you not agree with it?” Alex frowned a little.

“No, _NO!_ I actually _AGREE_ with you! It’s just that-“ He waved his arms around in gestures that were impossible to fathom.

Alex caught on anyway though, knowing that his boyfriend was just overwhelmed by his flattery again. “Hey…Robbie?”

“ _What?”_ He asked. “Are you going to say something super corny again?”

“No, I was just thinking- you said a while back that you wanted to change your last name, right?”

Robbie blinked, not sure what this had to do with anything. “Yeah, I do,” he replied. “I don’t want to use my patronymic.”

“Well, …why don’t we change our last names _together?”_

Robbie raised a brow. _“What?”_ He processed what the other had just said to him. Realizing the implications, he hid his face once more, the moment that he felt the heat creep right on back. “ _Stop messing with me, Sporty-“_

“I’m _not_ messing with you; I’m completely serious.” He sat up straight, moving the other’s hands away from his face to look him right in the eyes. “Let’s get _married_ , Robbie.”

Robbie swallowed, paralyzed. Alex _was_ serious. He’s never seen him look so serious about _anything_. A proposal was the last thing he expected to happen today, and Robbie wasn’t quite sure what to say, or how he should even react. First, calling them _fated_. And now, …marriage? It all ran through his mind, but he didn’t know what to make of all of it. Robbie felt like he might _explode-_

After a few moments of silence, he covered his mouth, letting out a shaky breath. He nodded.

Alex perked up. “Is that a _yes?”_

Robbie nodded again. “ _Yes,_ ” he breathed, promptly before falling into the other’s now open arms. He buried his face in his shoulder, his wings fluttering in little bursts.

Alex laughed with joy, embracing his newly-proclaimed fiancé. “That means you’re happy, doesn’t it?”

“ _Yes_ -“ he said shakily, _breathlessly, absolutely overcame_. In the heat of the moment, Robbie grabbed his fiancé by the face, and pulled him in for a long, hard kiss.

To that, Alex let out a happy hum, his eyes lidding themselves shut and he returned the kiss. When the other pulled away, he smiled, reaching out and cupping his cheek. “I was thinking, how about _Afdrif_ as a last name?”

“That’s _really_ corny.”

“Oh really? …Would you rather have something else?”

He grabbed the elf’s face again, for another this time, sweeter kiss. “ _No_ ,” he said. “It’s _perfect_.”

Alex smiled. “ _Perfect_. So, your place or mine tonight?”

“Let’s just stick with mine for now on. You might as well just _stay forever._ I mean, we keep getting your mail by mistake anyway-“

They both looked at each other and laughed.

“Stephanie and I will get packing.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

****

  
  
  


 

  
  
  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * "Afdrif" is an Icelandic word meaning "destiny", or "fate".


	13. Epilogue #2: Just Across the Hall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I never thought that writing my first fanfic ever would turn out to be such an adventure! I ended up enjoying this a lot, and all the feedback I've gotten has put a smile on my face :) 
> 
> I'm hoping that this won't be the last that I write. Who knows, maybe a prequel, sequel, or some other sort of spin-off could be in the works. What would YOU guys like to see? Any suggestions? 
> 
> Fair warning, this final chapter is a bit more suggestive than the previous ones and it's kind of just extra drabble that isn't really important to the plot. But if you do decide to read, I hope it's alright lol

There were some moments during Robbie’s childhood where he had wished that he had wings – actually, there were _a lot_ of moments where wished that he had wings- and would give _anything_ to have them. But, now that Robbie finally _did_ have them, he realized just how tricky some things were with them.

Bathing was one of those things. His magic made it easy for Robbie to keep himself clean, but he could only keep using his powers to keep himself tidy for _so long_ before he finally needed to actually _bathe._

Robbie learned quickly that his wings were very sensitive to water. Just like with birds and insects, flying in the rain was _very_ difficult for him, and his wings were fragile and took very long to dry. Because of this, he no longer took the long baths that he used to enjoy.

Tonight was a bathing night and Robbie had gotten out of the shower, towel around his waist, and was now sitting at the edge of the bed that he and Alex shared, letting his wings air-dry. He sighed to himself and rolled back his shoulders, slowly batting his wings with each flex of his back muscles.

The things he did for Alex…he wanted to go to bed early tonight, which meant Robbie hitting the sack early too so he wouldn’t bother him. He wouldn’t mind it if 8:08 were not so early…and if Alex wasn’t taking so long to get himself ready for bed- it was already 30 minutes past when he wanted to get to bed by- he wouldn’t be surprised if he had forgotten his own self-imposed bedtime.

“Still drying off, dear?”

Robbie jumped a little at the sudden voice of his lover. “That would be why I’m still not in pajamas, yes.”

“Do you need some help toweling your wings off?”

“That would be nice. Remember to be very careful with them. They’re still a little soft from the water, probably.”

“Mmmhm.” Alex smiled and nodded in understanding, disappearing into to the bathroom to retrieve another towel. He came back quickly, and took a seat on the bed right behind Robbie. “Don’t worry; I’m _always_ careful. I’ll be as gentle as can be.”

 _“Thank you_.” Robbie relaxed a bit, slouching to give the elf easier access while he as promised, gently began to dry his wings off with the towel.

“It doesn’t hurt?” he asked him as he dabbed at one of his wings lightly.

“No, you’re fine,” he answered. “I think that’s good for now.” He rolled his shoulders one more time, stretching his arms out.

“You know, Robbie,” Alex fixed his eyes on the other’s upper back, watching his muscles ripple with every movement the fairy made. “…I think you’ve gotten a bit stronger since your wings came in.”

Robbie looked over his shoulder at him. “You think so?”

“Yeah.” Alex said, reaching out to touch his muscle. “It must be all the practice flying that you have been putting in. You have stronger looking back muscles now. They’re certainly more noticeable than before.” His fingers grazed over his shoulder blades, admiring the feel of the bare muscle.

Alex’s fingers felt warm against Robbie’s cold skin, a small blessing after having stepped out of a steaming shower and into freezing cold air. His fingers were very easy to make out against Robbie’s back; each touch felt like a little kiss of heat and left a little tingle. It started off with just light touches, the other’s fingertips merely ghosting over him, but gradually, he applied more pressure, and now, he could feel Alex deep into his muscle tissue, making him melt in his hands the longer and longer he kneaded at his back.

Alex had felt knots, and was now massaging them out. “I could feel that you’ve been working hard.” He smiled softly as he felt the other completely relax underneath him. His hands started to work lower and lower, working their way around his wings, towards the small of his back. “I’m so _proud_ of you.”

He leaned in and planted a light kiss on the other man’s shoulder, before working his way back up the fairy’s back, fingertips now rubbing into the space between his wings.

Robbie shuddered when Alex touched that delicate spot along his spine, biting down gently on his lip at Alex’s response to that reaction of rubbing that spot _even more_.

“Are my hands cold? You’re shivering a little bit.”

The elf may be playing innocence, but Robbie knew that he knew _exactly_ what he was doing to him. _“No,”_ he told him, trying to hide the feeling of bliss from his voice. That did not work too well for him, since he could spot Alex trying to get a glance at his face from the corner of his eye, looking a bit smug. “Quite the opposite- the spot between my wings is just-“ another shiver ran down his spine as he felt the other rub circles into him. “A bit _sensitive-_ “

“Oh, it _is?”_ Alex asked, faking surprise before slowly running two fingers down between his shoulder blades and along his spine.

He felt a shock run through his entire body, and he swallowed, keeping down a gasp as he felt his face heat up and heartbeat increase. “ _Sporty_ -” he shivered once more when his lover decided to try it a second time. He couldn’t help it. The attention that he was giving his back felt _good_ \- almost _too_ good. “What are you _doing?”_

 _“What?”_ Alex batted his eyes, as if he had no idea _what_ he was doing. He stopped, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. “Am I not allowed to show the apple of my eye how much I appreciate him?” He whispered in his ear, wrapping his arms around his torso.

He planted a few kisses to his neck, to which Robbie instinctively tilted his head to, allowing more for his mouth to work with. He allowed _everything_ at this point, losing the power to give a thought to his lover’s wandering hands feeling up his chest. His fingers and his lips clouded Robbie’s head, muddling his thoughts. He reached a blind hand out for him, finding the elf’s silky locks of hair and running through them.

He heard Alex chuckle darkly. “…It looks like _you’re_ beginning to appreciate this too,” he mused, suddenly grabbing the towel wrapped around Robbie’s waist and yanking it off.

His eyes widened, that being enough to surprise him. “ _Spor-“_

He didn’t even give Robbie time to speak. He reached down, finding what he wanted and wrapped his fingers around it.

Robbie had always succumbed to Alex’s advances rather easily. It didn’t take much fooling around with him to get a little moan to escape from his lips.

Alex placed his other hand over his mouth. “Shhh,” he whispered, smirking. “You wouldn’t want the girls hearing us, would you?”

He froze at his lover’s taunt, brows furrowing as he glanced up at his face. He thought that Robbie was putty in his hands? He almost got him _this_ time, but he’ll have Alex think again.

Robbie reached up and held the hand that cupped his mouth, poking his tongue out to give the elf’s fingers an experimental little lick. His eyes followed the other’s own blue ones, keeping direct contact as he took a couple of his fingers into his mouth, eyes going half-lidded as he sucked the digits gently, running his tongue over each finger slowly.

That act had lasted about a good ten seconds, before Alex finally had to pull his hand away from Robbie’s mouth, this time covering up his _own_ , his face quickly erupting with a blush. _“Shit-“_

 _“Watch your mouth, sugar-”_ Robbie warned, now _his_ turn to look smug as he wrapped his arms around the flustered man’s neck. “You wouldn’t want the girls to hear us, would you? Much less hear you _curse-_ “ He ran his tongue along the shell of his ear, sucking the point lightly and pulling off with a “pop”.

He smirked when that made Alex gasp and shudder,

…And smirked even more when Alex pinned him down on the mattress.

***

Feeling weight shift off of the mattress, Robbie’s nose twitched in mild annoyance. The bed…lacked warmth. _Why?_

He slowly opened his eyes, only to immediately squeeze them shut again. He was _not_ prepared to have been blinded by the bedroom light. He rubbed his eyes and tried again, squinting into the light at the image of his partner pulling on a pair of exercise shorts. “Sporty…what are you doing?” Robbie asked, voice groggy as he glanced over at the clock on the bedside table. “It’s 4:15. It’s still dark out the window. Why are you up?”

 _How_ was he up was more of the question. They had _quite_ a night the night before- Alex managed to make Robbie wake up feeling sore from head to toe. But, he didn’t complain, and only wiggled his way over to the warm spot the other had left on the mattress, snuggling into the heat and wrapping himself with the rest of the blankets in content. He was _sore_ , but last night was _worth it._ But he _still_ would really like to know _why_ the elf was up and getting dressed at this hour.

“Oh-“ Alex peered over at the winged mass of blankets and bed sheets that was lying on their bed, giving an apologetic look before pulling a shirt on. “I’m sorry dear, I was hoping that I wouldn’t wake you. You can go back to sleep.”  
  
“I _plan_ to,” Robbie yawned. With a snap of his fingers, the blinds shut on their own and the curtains closed. With a clap of his hands, a pillow appeared out of thin air, and he grabbed it, hugging it to his chest as an impromptu replacement for the elf that seemed to have no plans on getting back to sleep.

“I think I told you earlier that I’m starting an early morning aerobics class that runs on Saturdays. Today’s the first day.” Alex sat down at the edge of the bed, stroking the hair of his sleeping beauty, frowning a little. “…Unless I forgot to tell you-“

“No no, you told me about it this time, I remember,” Robbie reassured him. “I’m just not good at recalling things this early in the morning. …But is _this_ why you wanted to go to bed at 8:08 last night?”

“Yes.” Alex nodded. “But _you_ don’t need go to bed as early as I do, if you’re really bothered by it.”

“No no, it’s fine,” Robbie told him, waving off his concern. “But last night, you definitely did _not_ make it to bed on time.”

“Well, that’s all because _someone_ distracted me!”

Robbie rolled his eyes. “Well, I’m sorry for _YOUR_ horniness.”

The elf just laughed.

“By the way, Sporty, _why_ 8:08? Why not just 8:00?”

“Well,” Alex replied. “…I thought that we would take only eight minutes.”

Robbie threw his pillow at the other’s face before that dumb grin of his could even finish developing on it. “ _Sportadumbass_ ,” he snorted. “When are we ever _that_ fast?”

Alex caught the pillow just an inch away from his face, giggling. “Alright, I’ll stop teasing.” He brushed Robbie’s messy bedhead away from his face, leaning in to give his forehead a kiss. “I’ll be heading out then. I made Stephanie and Ella lunch last night before bed; you can give it to them later today while I’m gone, if I don’t end up joining you guys for lunch. The fitness center closes earlier on Saturdays; I’ll be home by 6:00. Text me if you or the kids need anything, in case I’m in the middle of giving a class.”

“I know. You say all of this nearly every morning before you leave.” He smiled at him though. “Goodbye, Sporty.”  
  
Alex smiled back, kissing him on the lips this time. “I love you. See you later.”

“See you later. Love you.”

When Alex turned off the lights and left, Robbie reached a hand out for his phone, having it levitate towards him because he was too tired to get up and grab it himself. It shouldn’t take too long. He _never_ takes too long.

His phone buzzed in his hands, and he stared down at the screen. Alex had like always, _already_ sent him a text.

_“Good luck with the shop today! Keep positive! I love you!”_

He smiled at his phone, setting it down next to him before closing his eyes, and drifting off.

Even when he wasn’t lying right next to him, Robbie could still go to sleep feeling safe and secure. If Alex wasn’t just across the hall, then he was only just across the street, always being there for him without fail and knowing when he needed him, from a mile away. And Robbie will always be there for _Alex_ , be it from a mile away,  
  
…or a _thousand._


End file.
